Today, air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radars, or more generally airborne maritime surveillance radars, are installed on maritime reconnaissance aircraft for long-range detection, tracking and classification of surface ships (ASuW-anti-surface warfare) and for hunting submarines (ASW-anti-submarine warfare). Such radars were first developed in the UK during WWII as part of the response to the threat to shipping from German U-boats. This book describes the ASV radars developed in the UK and used by RAF Coastal Command during WWII for long-range maritime surveillance.

Simon Watts graduated from the University of Oxford in 1971, obtained an MSc and DSc from the University of Birmingham in 1972 and 2013, respectively, and a PhD from the CNAA in 1987. He was deputy Scientific Director and Technical Fellow in Thales UK until 2013 and is a Visiting Professor in the department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London. He joined Thales (then EMI Electronics) in 1967 and worked on a wide range of radar and EW projects, with a particular research interest in maritime radar and sea clutter. He is author and co-author of over 80 journal and conference papers, a book on sea clutter and several patents. He was appointed MBE in 1996 for services to the UK defence industry and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the IET, Fellow of the IMA and Fellow of the IEEE.

A Note on units Acknowledgements Author biography List of abbreviations 1.ASV Radar Development 1.1.Introduction 1.2.RAF Coastal Command 1.3.Airborne Radar Development and Trials Organizations 1.3.1.Post WWII1.4.The First Airborne Radar 1.5.Outline of the book 1.6.References 2.ASV Mk. I and II 2.1.ASV Mk. I 2.2.ASV Mk. II 2.2.1.LRASV development 2.2.2.ASV Mk. II equipment 2.2.3.Radar Installations 2.2.4.ARI 5136, Common T & R 2.2.5.Performance of ASV Mk. II 2.2.6.Leigh Light 2.2.7.Disappearing Contacts 2.2.8.The Vixen Attenuator 2.3.The value of ASV Mk. II 2.4.References 3.ASV Mk. III 3.1.Operational Requirement for ASV in October 1942 3.2.Centimetric Airborne Radar Development and Trials 3.3.ASV Mk. III Description 3.3.1.Waveform Generator Type 26 3.3.2.Transmitter-Receiver (T2R Unit) TR. 3191 or TR. 3159 3.3.3.Receiver Unit 3.3.4.Indicator Unit Type 162 3.3.5.Switch Unit Type 207 3.3.6.Scanner Type 51 3.3.7.Power Unit, Type 280 3.3.8.Setting up and operating the radar 3.4.ASV Mk. IIIC3.5.Improvements to ASV Mk. III 3.5.1.ASV Mk. IIIB 3.5.2.Sea Return Discriminator 3.6.Detection Performance of ASV Mk. III 3.7.Conclusions 3.8.References 4.ASV Mk. VI 4.1.Requirement for ASV Mk. VI 4.2.ASV Mk. VI, ARI 5568 4.2.1.Scanner Type 67 4.2.2.Modulator Type 158 4.2.3.Transmitter Receiver TR3519 4.2.4.Receiver R3553 or R3554 4.2.5.Attenuator, Type 53 4.2.6.Switch Unit 4.2.7.Indicator Unit Type 162B 4.2.8.Wavemeter Type 1632 (Echo Box) 4.3.ASV Mk. VIA, ARI 5571 4.3.1.Scanning Unit, Type 68 4.3.2.Strobe Unit Type 63 4.3.3.Strobe Control Unit Type 454 4.3.4.Leigh Light Indicator and Pilot's Indicator 4.4.ASV Mk. VIB, ARI 5604 4.4.1.AFC 4.4.2.Attenuator Type 58 4.4.3.Indicating Unit Type 162C 4.5.ASV Mk. VIA in a Wellington XIV 4.6.ASV Mk. VIC on Sunderland aircraft, ARI 5634 4.7.ASV Mk. VI Performance 4.7.1.ASV Mk. VIA Performance 4.8.Improvements to ASV Mk. VI 4.9.References 5.ASV Mk VII 5.1.Development of ASV Mk. VII 5.2.References 6.Lucero 6.1.The Lucero Interrogator 6.2.Lucero Trials results 6.3.References 7.Comparative Performance Assessment 7.1.Introduction 7.2.ASV Mk. II & III 7.3.ASV Mks III, VI & VII 7.3.1.Comparative Trials 7.3.2.Predicted performance of ASV Mks III, VI and VII 7.4.References 8.Conclusions 8.1.Other ASV Radars 8.1.1.USA radars 8.1.2.ASV for Coastal Command Strike Aircraft and FAA 8.2.The Schnorkel 8.3.Coastal Command at the end of WWII 8.4.References