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Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Fleet's First Radar Turns 75

XAF radarDecember 2013 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the Naval Research Laboratory's most important contributions to technology development and national defense: the Fleet's first shipboard radar.

NRL's XAF radar, fondly known as the "flying bedspring," was the prototype that showed the Navy what this new radio detecting and ranging system - not yet called radar - was capable of doing. In December 1938, the XAF radar was installed aboard USS New York (BB 34) in preparation for Fleet exercises in the Caribbean in early 1939.

During the at-sea exercises, the 200 MHz XAF system successfully spotted aircraft at distances up to 48 miles and ships at 10 miles, and could even follow 14-inch shells in flight. It also detected and pinpointed destroyers making nighttime simulated torpedo attacks.

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