In this talk I will review a complex but fascinating aspect of British aviation history, about which, hitherto, relatively little has been published. The initial development of radar in the UK led to the successful introduction of ground radar which played a key role in the Battle of Britain. This was followed by the considerable challenges of designing airborne systems that had to be small and light and with low power consumption. The widespread application of radar and other electronic systems (including countermeasures) to the war effort, made significant contributions to the major campaigns of RAF Coastal Command in the North Atlantic and Bomber Command over Europe. In the Cold War era, priority areas of development included the navigation and control systems for the V-bombers and guided weapons projects.
In parallel with the scientific developments, and of equal importance, were the aircraft on which these technologies were tested. The rapid development of airframes and engines and the advances in electronic engineering, and latterly computing all contributed to the development of airborne systems.
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Dr Dennis Williams has had a lifelong fascination with aviation and qualified for his Private Pilot’s Licence at the age of 17, on completion of an RAF Flying Scholarship. After graduating from the University of Birmingham he joined the Ministry of Defence to work as a materials scientist, specialising in semiconductors for infrared detectors. During that time, he was active as a glider pilot, flying from Pershore, the former home of radar research flying. Having been involved in a wide variety of volunteer history projects, he then enjoyed a second career in the heritage sector, working on archaeology, historic environment and museums tasks. He is a Trustee of the Malvern Radar and Technology History Society.