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.