Counter-battery Radar - History

History

The first radars were developed for anti-aircraft purposes just before World War II. These were soon followed by fire control radars for ships and coastal artillery batteries. The latter observed the fall of shot enabling corrections to be plotted. It was also found that some radars could detect large projectiles in flight.

However, radar operators in light anti-aircraft batteries close to the front line found they were able to track mortar bombs. Probably helped by the fins of a mortar bomb producing a stronger return signal. This led to their dedicated use in this role, with special secondary instruments if necessary, and development of radars designed for mortar locating.

Locating mortars was relatively easy because their trajectory was sufficiently close to parabolic that the simple mathematics of parabolas could be used with analogue computers. Better radars were also able to detect howitzers when firing in high angle (elevation greater than 45 degrees), although in reality such use was quite rare.

Low angle trajectories normally used by guns, howitzers and rockets were more difficult. They could be detected but their shape, a segment of an ellipse, was impossible to resolve until efficient algorithms were developed and digital computers, usable on the battlefield, had achieved the necessary performance.

By the early 1970s radar systems capable of locating guns appeared possible, and many European members of NATO embarked on the joint Project Zenda. This was short-lived for unclear reasons, but the US embarked on Firefinder program and Hughes developed the necessary algorithms, although it took two or three years of difficult work.

The next step forward was European when in 1986 France, Germany and UK agreed the 'List of Military Requirements' for a new counter-battery radar. The distinguishing feature was that instead of just locating individual guns, etc., the radar was able to locate many simultaneously and group them into batteries with a centre point, dimensions and attitude of the long axis of the battery. This radar eventually reached service as EuroART's COBRA system. Simultaneous with the development of COBRA, Norway and Sweden developed a smaller, more mobile counter-battery radar known as ARTHUR. It was taken into service in 1999 and is today used by 7 NATO countries and The Republic Of South Korea. New versions of ARTHUR is developed resulting in a radar with twice the performances of the original.

However, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan led to a new need for a small counter-mortar radar, given 360 degree coverage and requiring a minimal crew, for use in forward operating bases. In another back to the future step it has also proved possible to add counter-battery software to battlefield airspace surveillance radars.