preview

Electromagnetics Ruined Britain

Decent Essays
Open Document

In order to properly talk about radar, or Radio Detection and Ranging as it was once called, we must first look at the history of radio waves and how eating carrots saved Britain. During the late years of the 19th century, many advances were being made in the field of electromagnetism. James Maxwell, among his many discoveries, stated that electromagnetic waves produced through oscillating charges could propagate through space at the speed of light. Heinrich Hertz managed to prove this hypothesis in 1887 in his famous radio experiment. Shortly after arriving in Karlsruhe, Hertz found some large induction coils that could produce a pulsed high voltage and a pair of spark micrometers with brass knobs forming an adjustable spark gap, which he hoped could be used to transmit electromagnetic waves as predicted by Maxwell. With a battery and an interrupter attached to the primary coil, he could obtain a pulsed high voltage across a secondary coil. He then invented a high-frequency oscillating antenna by forming a dipole with two metal …show more content…

However, a new technology was developed which provided enough warning time to deploy a counterattack, the RADAR. Thanks to this the allies were able to know not only the direction of an aircraft, but also the raid count, altitude and speed. With this the allies were able to win the Battle of Britain (2). Immediately following this victory, the allies began research into developing electric warfare to counteract technological advances by the Germans. After gathering enough intelligence on the German antiaircraft radar and their communication, the allies began using chaffs, and airborne jammers in order to suppress German air defenses (2). Like it’s always the case with warfare technology, ways were devised for counteracting the enemy’s radar. These techniques can be divided into electronic, mechanical, and

Get Access