From ‘Britain’s’ Shield: radar and the Defeat of the Luftwaffe’ by David Zimmerman
In the middle of 1936 Eddie Bowen suggested there was no reason for the transmitter to be in the aircraft, instead the airborne receiver would utilise radio pulses from a transmitter on the ground. Bowen dubbed this radar RDF 1½, because the Chain radar was known as RDF1 and the complete aircraft mounted system RDF2.
Testing of this hybrid commended in the autumn of 1936 using a Heyford bomber. On its first flight the radar detected an aircraft at between 8 and 10 miles distant. Bowen argued that RDF 1½ worked so well that it should be adopted, rather than wait for the development of a complete airborne radar system. Watson-Watt overruled him, citing difficulties in getting accurate range measurements unless the fighter was directly between the transmitter and an enemy bomber.
Could RDF 1 1/2 be classed as a form of AEW?
In the middle of 1936 Eddie Bowen suggested there was no reason for the transmitter to be in the aircraft, instead the airborne receiver would utilise radio pulses from a transmitter on the ground. Bowen dubbed this radar RDF 1½, because the Chain radar was known as RDF1 and the complete aircraft mounted system RDF2.
Testing of this hybrid commended in the autumn of 1936 using a Heyford bomber. On its first flight the radar detected an aircraft at between 8 and 10 miles distant. Bowen argued that RDF 1½ worked so well that it should be adopted, rather than wait for the development of a complete airborne radar system. Watson-Watt overruled him, citing difficulties in getting accurate range measurements unless the fighter was directly between the transmitter and an enemy bomber.
Could RDF 1 1/2 be classed as a form of AEW?