Inaugural address. Radar engineering: progress and prospect

The progress of ground radar from the early British experiments of 1934 to the close of the Second World War is briefly reviewed. The disturbed political situation of the postwar world ensured that substantial resources were still applied to defence research, and progress in radar engineering was correspondingly rapid. Developments achieved during this period in methods of generating and receiving microwave signals are considered. Special interest attaches to the plan-position indicator (p.p.i.) as the interface between the controller and the radar `machine¿ the evolution is traced of p.p.i.-based methods of displaying radar data and the associated procedural information. In recent years, substantial advances in electronic units have been made possible by the use of solid-state integrated circuits stemming from the transistor invented by the Bell Laboratories in 1948. Solid-state devices have greatly influenced the design of radar transmitters and receivers, and have also permitted a new approach to the electronically scanned aerial; but it is in the field of digital processing of radar signals that integrated circuits have revolutionised both the function and form of radar equipment. The address discusses these developments and assesses the prospect for future progress in radar engineering as a whole.