Ground radar

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For references regarding ground radar, see the specific article.

Ground radar (cf. airborne radar system) is a radar positioned on the ground and used for air defense (e.g., ground-controlled interception), command guidance (e.g., ground-directed bombing), air traffic control (i.e., radar control), instrument landing systems, radar bomb scoring, etc.. Ground radar may refer to:

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Ground-controlled interception

Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was pioneered during World War I by the London Air Defence Area organization, which became the Royal Air Force's Dowding system in World War II, the first national-scale system. The Luftwaffe introduced similar systems during the war, but most other combatants did not suffer the same threat of air attack and did not develop complex systems like these until the Cold War era.

Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer in order to intercept its target. This control may also command the missile to detonate, even if the missile itself has a fuze.

The Air Route Surveillance Radar is used by the United States Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration to control airspace within and around the borders of the United States.

Airport surveillance radar

An airport surveillance radar (ASR) is a radar system used at airports to detect and display the presence and position of aircraft in the terminal area, the airspace around airports. It is the main air traffic control system for the airspace around airports. At large airports it typically controls traffic within a radius of 60 miles (96 km) of the airport below an elevation of 25,000 feet. The sophisticated systems at large airports consist of two different radar systems, the primary and secondary surveillance radar. The primary radar typically consists of a large rotating parabolic antenna dish that sweeps a vertical fan-shaped beam of microwaves around the airspace surrounding the airport. It detects the position and range of aircraft by microwaves reflected back to the antenna from the aircraft's surface. In the US the primary radar operates at a frequency of 2.7 - 2.9 GHz in the S band with a peak radiated power of 25 kW and an average power of 2.1 kW. The secondary surveillance radar consists of a second rotating antenna, often mounted on the primary antenna, which interrogates the transponders of aircraft, which transmits a radio signal back containing the aircraft's identification, barometric altitude, and an emergency status code, which is displayed on the radar screen next to the return from the primary radar. It operates at a frequency of 1.03 - 1.09 GHz in the L band with peak power of 160 - 1500 W.

Counter-battery radar

A counter-battery radar is a radar system that detects artillery projectiles fired by one or more guns, howitzers, mortars or rocket launchers and, from their trajectories, locates the position on the ground of the weapon that fired it. Such radars are a subclass of the wider class of target acquisition radars.

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Missile guidance variety of methods of guiding a missile

Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its "Single Shot Kill Probability" (SSKP), which is part of combat survivability calculations associated with the salvo combat model.

ROTOR air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s

ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. In order to get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era systems, notably the original Chain Home radars for the early warning role, and the AMES Type 7 for plotting and interception control. The system had a network of control stations, mostly built underground, and connected with an extensive telephone and telex network.

RAF Boulmer Royal Air Force air defence monitoring station in Northumberland, England.

Royal Air Force Boulmer or RAF Boulmer is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland, England, and is home to Aerospace Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) Force Command, Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) Boulmer, the School of Aerospace Battle Management and support staff. Until 30 September 2015, it was also home to A Flight, No. 202 Squadron RAF, who flew the Westland Sea King HAR.3 in the SAR role.

Radar configurations and types is an article about listing the different uses of radars.

CFS Saglek

Canadian Forces Station Saglek is a Canadian Forces Air Command radar base in the former Pinetree Line and currently part of the North Warning System, located near Saglek Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador. located 367.7 miles (591.8 km) north-northwest of CFB Goose Bay.

Ground-directed bombing (GDB) is a military tactic for airstrikes by ground-attack aircraft, strategic bombers, and other equipped air vehicles under command guidance from aviation ground support equipment and/or ground personnel. Often used in poor weather and at night, the tactic was superseded by an airborne computer predicting unguided bomb impact from data provided by precision avionics Equipment for radar GDB generally included a combination ground radar/computer/communication system and aircraft avionics for processing radioed commands.

In aviation a ground-controlled approach (GCA), is a type of service provided by air-traffic controllers whereby they guide aircraft to a safe landing, including in adverse weather conditions, based on primary radar images. Most commonly a GCA uses information from either a Precision Approach Radar or an Airport Surveillance Radar. The term GCA may refer to any type of ground radar guided approach such as a PAR, PAR without glideslope or ASR. When both vertical and horizontal guidance from the PAR is given, the approach is termed a precision approach. If no PAR glidepath is given, even if PAR equipment is used for lateral guidance, it is considered a non-precision approach.

SAGE radar stations Wikimedia list article

The SAGE radar stations of Air Defense Command were the military installations operated by USAF squadrons using the 1st automated air defense environment and networked by the SAGE System, a computer network. Most of the radar stations used the Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) to automate the operator environment and provide radar tracks to sector command posts at SAGE Direction Centers (DCs), e.g., the Malmstrom Z-124 radar station was co-located with DC-20. The sector/division radar stations were networked by DCs and Manual Control Centers to provide command, control, and coordination for ground-controlled interception of enemy aircraft by interceptors such as the F-106 developed to work with the SAGE System.

Joint Surveillance System

The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) is a joint United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It replaced the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in 1983.

Dauphin Island Air Force Station

Dauphin Island Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east of Dauphin Island, Alabama, near historic Fort Gaines (Alabama). It was closed in 1980.

Ground Equipment Facility J-36A

Ground Equipment Facility J-36A is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar station of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS) in the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) of NORAD.

The AN/MPQ-2 Close Cooperation Control Unit was a truck-mounted post-World War II automatic tracking radar/computer/communication system for aircraft command guidance, e.g., missile tracking, and for Radar Bomb Scoring. For ground directed bombing (GDB), an operator would manually plot a target on the "Blind Bombing Plotting Sheet", then use the manual "E6B computer and bombing tables" to plot the release point for striking the target, after which a radar operator used the MPQ to acquire a track of the bomber near an initial point during which allowed ground control of the bomb run to the release point.

An Air Defense Direction Center (ADDC) was a type of United States command post for assessing Cold War radar tracks, assigning height requests to available height-finder radars, and for "Weapons Direction": coordinating command guidance of aircraft from more than 1 site for ground-controlled interception. As with the World War II Aircraft Warning Service CONUS defense network, a "manual air defense system" was used through the 1950s Along with 182 radar stations at "the end of 1957, ADC operated … 17 control centers", and the Ground Observation Corps was TBD on TBD. With the formation of NORAD, several types of ADDCs were planned by Air Defense Command:

United States general surveillance radar stations include Army and USAF stations of various US air defense networks :

The Reeves AN/MSQ-1 Close Support Control Set produced by Reeves Instrument Corporation was a trailer-mounted combination radar/computer/communication developed under a Rome Air Development Center program office for Cold War command guidance of manned aircraft Developed for Korean War ground-directed bombing, one detachment of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron bombed itself with an MSQ-1 because it mistakenly used procedures for the earlier SCR-584/OA-294 system The MSQ-1 was subsequently used for nuclear testing during Operation Argus and during Operation Teapot, and for aircraft tests such as for "MSQ-1 controlled pinpoint photography" in 1954.