Tracking Radar Antenna, expanded


This is one of the tracking radars. There is no real external difference between the:
  • Target Tracking Radar - used primarily for tracking in elevation (up/down) and azimuth (left/right)

  • Target Ranging Radar - used primarily for tracking in range. Target "Electronic Counter Measures" (ECM) or jamming increased the difficulty of range tracking. A separate tracking radar was added to the Nike Hercules sites to add flexibility to help counter jamming.

  • Missile Tracking Radar - used to track the responding beacon (transponder) in the missile.
The radars were bore sighted using a local (few hundred feet away) mast with radar beacon and optical targets. (This mast is not present on the site)

The radars used the "X" band, about 9,000 megahertz to 9,500 megahertz, (3 centimeter wavelength).


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