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98-573: East Camp is an Ex-MOD housing estate opposite the MOD St Athan main east entrance within St Athan . The housing estate sits between the village of St Athan and Flemingston but does not constitute a village itself. It falls under the Flemingston & Eglwys Brewis electoral ward. Due to it being Ex-MOD property there are some particular arrangements regarding build and service supply to

196-707: A C-scope display on the CRT. In the post-war period the Mk. X became one of the UK's most widely used fighter radars, largely because a lack of foreign exchange to purchase newer designs, and the poor economy in general which required the RAF to have a "make do" attitude. The Mk. X would go on to equip the first jet-powered night fighters, including the Vampire NF.10 and Meteor NF.11 . Small numbers remained in service as late as 1957. For

294-508: A Junkers Ju 88 A-5 near Chichester . Several advanced versions of the Mk. IV were also produced, which offered direct readings for the pilot and options to allow use in single seat aircraft. However, these developments were overtaken by the rapid improvements in microwave systems, and both the Mark V and Mark VI saw only limited production and service. In February 1940, John Randall and Harry Boot at Birmingham University successfully ran

392-429: A Vickers VC10 , departed the site on 23 February 2012 and the last remaining employees were made redundant. On 23 February 2016, Aston Martin announced that their new factory to build its DBX crossover model would be built on the airfield at St Athan. Construction of the 90-acre (36 ha) site would commence in 2017, with a total investment of $ 280 million and the creation of 750 jobs. The factory will incorporate

490-736: A friendly fire incident, killing him and destroying the only prototype. This so greatly delayed the program that the Air Ministry asked Jackson to test the US SCR-720 unit as a stop-gap measure. This proved to be able to pick the bomber from the window, and work on the Mk. IX was given low priority while the UK version of the SCR-720, known as the Mk. X, was purchased. With the night fighter force certain of its ability to continue operating successfully if needed, Bomber Command received clearance to begin using window on 16 July 1943. Work on

588-550: A 12-year term of service. St Athan was the designated site for the United Kingdom's new defence training academy, but the programme was cancelled in 2010. The airfield part of the site was transferred from military to civilian control on 1 April 2019. It is now owned by the Welsh Government and known as Bro Tathan airfield , and is home to Bro Tathan Business Park . MOD St Athan continues to exist, comprising

686-582: A Mosquito NF.II was upgraded to the Mk. VIII, serving as the pattern for the Mosquito NF.XII. Starting in December, Beaufighter units were upgraded to the similar Mk. VIIIA, an interim type awaiting production quantities of the VIII. Although the precise origins of the concept are unknown, on 8 March 1941 Lovell mentions the concept of "lock-follow" for the first time in his notes. This was a modification to

784-553: A direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft. The MOD later decided that DARA's 'fast jets' and engines businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'large aircraft' business would continue. On 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility. A 2009 report from

882-457: A disused running track. 1st St Athan Scout Group meet at East Camp, mainly at The Gathering Place. In World War II East Camp maintenance units were bomb targets because of the RAF activity there. The particular fresh water arrangement to site was also to prevent troops/staff being poisoned as all water was treated on the RAF site. The buildings are concrete prefabrications said to be built for

980-558: A fleet of Morris Minors , including "Travellers", and were taught basic maintenance. The driving tests were normally taken in Cardiff and, once students had passed, they were then allowed to train in night and motorway driving, and practise on a skid-pan. St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Dominie, Vulcan, (minor servicing also from 1980) Victor, Buccaneer, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under

1078-661: A ground-mapping display. The AI.18R added modes to support the Red Top missile . The AI Mark 20 was an X-band radar developed by EKCO Electronics for single seat fighters. Code named "Green Willow" by the MoS, it was intended to be a backup system to the AI.23 being developed for the English Electric Lightning (see below). It is believed that the 1953 contract was awarded to EKCO due to their already existing work on

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1176-440: A helical scan instead of spiral. The radar antenna was spun around a vertical axis through an entire 360 degrees 10 times a second, with the transmitter switching off when the antenna was pointed back towards the aircraft. This provided a 150 degree scan in front of the aircraft. As it spun, the antenna slowly nodded up and down to provide altitude coverage between +50 and -20 degrees. The resulting scanning pattern naturally produced

1274-723: A lock at as much as 75° in roll. The dish was unique in that it included a fibreglass ring around the outer rim as a stiffener. Mk. 18 was able to detect the English Electric Canberra at 28 nautical miles (52 km) at altitudes over 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and a closing speed of 900 knots (1,700 km/h). It could detect the Boeing B-47 at 38 nautical miles (70 km) under the same conditions, and could lock-follow after closing to about 25 nautical miles (46 km). When set to its longest range, 100 miles (160 km), it also offered sea surface search, and

1372-669: A new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan. This had followed the Defence Training Review , when three companies tendered for two separate contracts, with the Metrix consortium being awarded the contract for package 1 (package 2 was later withdrawn). The Welsh Government then reintroduced its original plans to create an aviation business park, including the site in the St Athan and Cardiff Airport Enterprise Zone. Bruce Dickinson set up Cardiff Aviation Lt. in

1470-458: A pre-existing road. The local Spar used to be Naafi (Navy, Army, Air Force, Institutes) as part of the R.A.F.'s stores but later opened to the public as a Spar. This is now closed. 28 April 2016 a Food Bank opened on East Camp's The Gathering Place. Taxi and Greenlinks operate to East Camp but the only public transport is a bus service. There is a bridle path to the north of East Camp, near Flemingston. The Gathering Place Methodist Church

1568-696: A radar system into an aircraft. This work led to the AI Mk. IV radar , the first production air-to-air radar system. Mk. IV entered service in July 1940 and reached widespread availability on the Bristol Beaufighter by early 1941. The Mk. IV helped end the Blitz , the Luftwaffe ' s night bombing campaign of late 1940 and early 1941. Starting with the AI Mk. VII , AI moved to microwave frequencies using

1666-514: A receiver fit to a Handley Page Heyford bomber, with an antenna consisting of a wire strung between the fixed landing gear . A working transmitter was first fit to the Heyford and flew in March 1937. In spite of this success, the system's antennas were still too large to be practical, and work continued on versions working at shorter wavelengths. A new system working at 1.25 m (220 MHz)

1764-469: A separate squegging oscillator was used to produce pulses of the carrier signal using a timer. This timer also muted down the receiver, solving the ringing issue. Minimum range was reduced to about 400 feet. The resulting AI Mk. IV went into production in July 1940 and all units were sent to newly arriving Bristol Beaufighters . The Beaufighter/AI Mk. IV achieved its first victory on the night of 15/16 November 1940, when an aircraft from No. 604 destroyed

1862-568: A shared understanding of each other’s key assumptions. The Red Dragon project highlights the danger in large and complex projects that involve multiple public bodies of insufficient openness and information sharing." In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London. The station was renamed as Ministry of Defence St Athan (MOD St Athan) . A large swathe of land

1960-409: A £14 billion investment over 25 years and an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy. It was to accept its first intakes in 2012 and was to be fully operational in 2017 when the last of the current training centres closed. However, changes in all these elements of the plans were brought out by anti-Metrix campaigners. Phase 3 training was deleted with reduction to a PFI total of £11 billion,

2058-570: Is now owned by the Welsh Government and known as Bro Tathan airfield, and is home to Bro Tathan Business Park. Bro Tathan North is currently home to the South Wales Aviation Museum . The military continues to have a presence adjacent to the airfield, which is known as MOD St Athan. In December 2020, the last ever flight of a British Airways Boeing 747-400 , registration G-BYGC, landed at St Athan, having departed nearby Cardiff Airport, where it had been stored. This aircraft

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2156-530: Is on the corner of the northern Flemingston Road entrance to East Camp. The Gathering Place is also a community centre. MOD St Athan Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan ( Welsh : Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as Royal Air Force St Athan, or more simply RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan , southern Wales . The base

2254-654: Is one of fourteen RAF University Air Squadrons , flying Grob Tutors . 2300 Squadron of the Air Training Corps is also located on the Station. Between May 1947 and August 1973, St Athan was also home for the Administrative Apprentice Training School, which provided a 20-month training programme for boys who enlisted to become clerks or work in accounting, supply and administration, prior to posting to other RAF units for

2352-524: Is painted in the heritage BOAC livery, and will be preserved, along with two of its sister aircraft that were sent to Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, and another which was sent to Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire. Units currently based at MOD St Athan include: Strategic Command There was an intention to move No 4. School of Technical Training (No. 4 SoTT) from St Athan to MoD Lyneham as

2450-419: The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and later used for the R.A.F. families. Due to their similar design and the way the buildings lock together like blocks, the estate was also nicknamed "Legoland". It also has the nickname Explorers Estate as each of the streets, Scott Close, Shackleton Close, Livingston Way, Drake Close, Clive Road and Mallory Close were named after discoverers, Flemingston Road being

2548-583: The Air Accidents Investigation Branch . The AAIB investigation report, published on 3 November 2010, concluded that the two aircraft simply failed to see each other due to obstructions on the canopy structure and the relative size and lack of conspicuity of the aircraft. The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 14, and Nikitta Walters, 13; the RAF pilots were named as Flying Officer Hylton Price and Flight Lieutenant Andrew Marsh. The proximity of

2646-629: The English Channel . Tracking over land fell to the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) using visual means. In testing it was found that the two different reporting systems provided information that varied enough to make tracking targets confusing and error prone, and the sheer volume of information could be overwhelming. Hugh Dowding addressed this through the creation of what is today known as the Dowding system , networking together

2744-510: The Fairey Fireflash missile illumination radar. AI.20 was significantly simpler than the AI.23, being much closer in design to an upgraded AI.17 than the much more advanced AI.23. It used a simple spiral scan system driven at 10,000 RPM, scanning out to 45 degrees and then back every 2.25 seconds. Testing started in 1955, and the AI.20 demonstrated its ability to lock-on to a Hawker Hunter sized target at 7 miles (11 km) 95% of

2842-592: The Fairey Firefly , which had the size to carry a radar operator and the performance to operate as a fighter. Some were also used on the Mosquito. Considerably later, a single Meteor, EE348 , was fit with an APS-4 in a nose mounting as a test vehicle. The APS-6 was a modification of the APS-4 specifically for the interception role. It replaced the side-to-side scan with a spiral-scan system largely identical to

2940-571: The Fleet Air Arm , the TRE developed a series of AI radars operating at the even shorter 3 cm wavelength, the X band , which further reduced the size of the antennas. The original model was the Mark XI, followed by the improved Mark XII and lightened Mark XIII. It is not clear if any of these models saw service, and few references mention them even in passing. These designations were given to

3038-526: The H2S radar project and was replaced by Arthur Ernest Downing. This delayed the project just long enough that it got caught up in a great debate that broke out in the summer of 1942 about the use of window , today known as chaff . Window caused false returns on radar displays that made it difficult to tell where the bombers were amid a sea of blips. Bomber Command had been pressing to use window over Germany to reduce their losses, which were beginning to mount as

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3136-631: The Project Red Dragon super-hangar which had cost the British taxpayer £113m. The U.S. state of Alabama , along with two UK sites and a Middle Eastern location, had been on Aston's shortlist for the factory. Aston unveiled the DBX at the 2015 Geneva Auto Show; DBX production was to start in 2020 with an output of up to 5,000 units a year envisaged. The airfield part of the site was transferred from military to civilian control on 1 April 2019. It

3234-537: The RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off. The pilot attempted to recover the aircraft in a reciprocal approach; however, it struck the roof of the engine repair and overhaul squadron hangar and crashed to

3332-463: The cavity magnetron , greatly improving performance while reducing size and weight. This gave the UK an enormous lead over their counterparts in the Luftwaffe , an advantage that was to exist for the remainder of World War II . By the end of the war, over a dozen AI models had been experimented with, and at least five units widely used in service. This included several US-built models, especially for

3430-561: The 'academy' was downgraded to a Defence Training College, the number of jobs was halved and most disclosed as not created but transferred from other MOD sites. A principal member of the Metrix consortium (the 'blue-chip' Land Securities Trillium ) withdrew, to be replaced by Sodexo . A public inquiry into compulsory purchase of land opened in January 2009 gave opportunity for local communities and Welsh organisations (Cynefin y Werin; Friends of

3528-557: The AI.18 used on the de Havilland Sea Vixen , and the AI.23 Airpass on the English Electric Lightning . This article will use Mk. or AI. depending on which is most commonly used in available references. In order to provide the maximum possible warning time of an incoming raid, the RAF's Chain Home (CH) radar stations had been positioned as far forward as possible, right on the coastline. These systems could only see targets in front of them, over

3626-672: The AI.20 primarily in the details of the operation and visual presentation. This was later upgraded to the Mark 2 model that equipped the V-force for most of its lifetime. As the Javelin ran into delays, it was decided to increase the useful life of the existing Meteor and Vampire night fighters with a new radar. After considering three US designs, they chose the Westinghouse AN/APS-57 . Its 200 kW transmitter improved range to as much as 25 miles (40 km) although this

3724-602: The Army (REME) schools that are relocating there carry out similar engineering training functions; however, a decision by 22 Training Group to keep capbadges together (RAF with RAF) seems to have changed the direction of No. 4 SoTT, with it now potentially moving to RAF Cosford to rationalise the Defence College of Technical Training (DCTT) training establishments, a move confirmed in an announcement by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on 15 September 2015. In October 2017,

3822-559: The BBC production facility at Roath Lock (and previously Upper Boat Studios ) makes St. Athan a popular choice for location shooting, and it has appeared in such TV programmes as Torchwood , Doctor Who and Sherlock , and also in the films The Killer Elite and Mr Nice . Aircraft interception radar The term was first used circa 1936, when a group at the Bawdsey Manor research center began considering how to fit

3920-502: The Defence Colleges of Aeronautical Engineering , Electro-Mechanical Engineering and Communications and Information Systems . Phase 2 training involves initial trade training for the armed forces; phase 3 training involves continuous professional development. In addition, some training of overseas troops in the same disciplines was to be accommodated. The new academy was expected to create up to 5,000 jobs at St Athan, with

4018-462: The Earth, Cymdeithas y Cymod, Green Party) to challenge the development. The MOD and Welsh Government accepted the size was cut by more than half, but maintained their demand for the same size of estate for accommodation and support facilities. They also retained the environmentally damaging and costly approach road, though opposed strongly by local communities. Being politically sensitive, the decision on

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4116-551: The FAW.6. The last AI.17-equipped Javelin FAW.9's ended their service in Singapore in 1968. Having lost the contest for the Javelin, GEC submitted an updated version of the Mk. 16 for the contest for the de Havilland Sea Vixen . This produced the Mk. 18. Mk. 18 operated in the X band with a 180 kW peak power, using a 29 inches (740 mm) parabolic dish that could be pointed ±100° in azimuth, +50/-40° in elevation, and could keep

4214-567: The Fleet Air Arm. The AI naming convention was used in the post-war era as well, but these generally dropped the "Mk." when written in short form and used numbers instead of Roman numerals . A good example is the AI.24 radar of the Tornado ADV . These radars were often given common names as well, and generally better known by these; the AI.24 is almost universally referred to as "Foxhunter". Other widely used post-war examples include

4312-586: The German defensive network improved. Fighter Command was concerned that if Bomber Command used it over Germany, the Germans would return the favour and use it over the UK. A series of tests carried out in September 1942 by Wing Commander Derek Jackson suggested that some changes to the display systems might solve the problems with window on the Mk. VIII. At this point it was suggested that the Mk. IX might ignore

4410-480: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) stated the plans to move No. 4 SoTT were not sufficiently mature to provide a date for the move. The MOD indicated in September 2019 that the intent remains to relocate the school before the lease on its buildings expires in March 2024. The future location and time-frame to relocate the school was yet to be finalised. On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and

4508-419: The Mk. IV, but as the timebase now spun, they drew short arcs on the display during the period the antenna was pointed in that direction. Like the Mk. IV, the distance from the center of the CRT indicated the range. As the target moved closer to the centreline of the aircraft, the beam spent more time painting the target, and the arc spread out, becoming a ring when dead ahead. First introduced in March 1941, it

4606-482: The Mk. IX continued, but it never saw operational service. In testing in 1944 it was found to be marginally better than the US SCR-720, but with the SCR-720 expected to arrive at any moment, the demand for another radar was not pressing. Instead, the Mk. IX was given more time to mature. Further development led to more testing in 1948, but it was again passed up for production and cancelled the next year. The Mark X

4704-639: The Mk. VII, requiring very large amount of aircraft space for the install. Conversions on the Beaufighter began in December 1941. This run was followed by the production Mark VIII that included the new "strapped magnetron" of 25 kW, improving range to about 5.5 miles (8.9 km). This version also had several major clean-ups in the electronics, support for IFF Mark III which caused a sunrise pattern to appear when aimed at friendly aircraft, and beacon tracking allowing it to home in on ground-based transmitters emplaced by friendly units. In September 1942

4802-494: The Mk. X to soldier on while a definitive jet-powered night fighter evolved. This effort underwent similar delays and setbacks before finally emerging as the Gloster Javelin . Two radar sets competed for the design, the Mk. 16 and Mk. 17. The later went into production, and is better known as the AI.17. General Electric Company 's Mark 16 was one of two similar designs competing to equip the Gloster Javelin . The contest

4900-685: The NF.14, which started deliveries in June. Likewise the de Havilland Venom received the Mk. 21 to become the Venom NF.3, also entering service in June, but was withdrawn by the end of 1957. The Sea Venom flew the Mk. 21 until 1959, and in second-line duty until 1970. The Mark 22 was the British version of the US AN/APQ-43 , This consisted of two radar antennas driven from a common magnetron transmitter. One used spiral-scan to search for targets, while

4998-670: The National Audit Office concluded that "The MOD and the Welsh Authorities did not work sufficiently closely during the project. Although they had complementary objectives, there was no common purpose between them, with the MOD interested in securing more efficient repair of fast jets and the Welsh Authorities interested in safeguarding and creating jobs in South Wales. The MOD and the Welsh Authorities did not have

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5096-627: The US AN/APS-4 and AN/APS-6 radars, small under-wing X band radars used primarily by naval aircraft. The APS-4 was originally developed as the ASH, a forward-aimed surface-search system. It was packaged into an underwing pod so it could be used on single-engine aircraft like the TBM Avenger . It proved to have a useful interception function, and was modified to be able to scan up and down as well as just side to side. The Fleet Air Arm mounted it on

5194-410: The aircraft storage and maintenance facility at RAF Llandow . During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field (supposedly led by Jasper Maskelyne ). Aircraft and buildings were made of cardboard and wood and some real, but old tractors were driven around the site. The Germans attacked

5292-459: The arrival of a fighter group pool, the School of Air Navigation, and a maintenance unit. The UK's aircraft interception radar efforts were briefly housed at St Athan in late 1939 and early 1940. Prior to the war they had been located with the rest of the radar research efforts at Bawdsey Manor on the east coast, but with the opening of hostilities they were quickly moved to a tiny civilian airfield, Perth Airport (Scotland) outside Perth . Yet

5390-595: The auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA). Highly specialised major servicing of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight 's Avro Lancaster bomber was also conducted at RAF St Athan. A new Aircraft Paint Facility of No. 1 Engineering Squadron, RAF St Athan was opened by the Permanent Under Secretary of State, MoD, Sir Michael Quinlan during January 1991. The site carried out major servicing for VC-10s from February 1992 taking over from Brize Norton, along with third line maintenance for Hawks and Jaguar taking over from RAF Abingdon. The Victor Major Maintenance Unit

5488-416: The barracks area which is adjacent to the airfield. The airbase is a prominent scrapping facility, used by eCube, together with Horizon Aircraft Services (formerly Hunter Flying). The station officially opened as RAF ( Royal Air Force ) St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No. 4 School of Technical Training (4SofTT). In 1939, the station's activities were expanded with

5586-408: The conditions there entirely unsuited to their efforts. After a short search, St Athan was selected for the AI team while the rest of the researchers stayed in Dundee . When they too found the conditions unsuitable, both teams moved to Worth Matravers in May 1940. A Special Duty Flight was formed at the station on 14 November 1939 to support the aircraft-borne radar efforts. It was established from

5684-412: The difficulty of spotting a target from the cockpit of an aircraft while flying it at night proved to be equally difficult. Henry Tizard wrote a memo on the topic in 1936, indicating that the Germans would likely begin a night campaign if the daylight campaign went as poorly as he believed it would due to Chain Home. The obvious solution would be to mount a small radar on the aircraft, one able to cover

5782-428: The dummy field a number of times and it was rebuilt each time. On 15 July 1940, four 250-kilogram (550 lb) bombs failed to explode, 2 of them near assembly sheds. It was unclear to the newly appointed bomb disposal team led by Colonel Stuart Archer GC whether they were dealing with delayed action fuses -then causing major disruptions to vital buildings and airfields or more likely booby-trapped devices. The decision

5880-427: The first cavity magnetron , eventually generating 1 kW at 9.8 cm (3,060 MHz). Supported by GEC, the device quickly developed into a practical 10 kW system, and several test units were available by May 1940. Microwave wavelengths are so much shorter than the Mk. IV's 1.5 m, fifteen times, that the dipole antennas required for reasonable gain were only a few inches long. This dramatically reduced

5978-416: The former VC10 hangars known as Twin Peaks. In addition, eCube (specialising in scrapping aircraft), together with Horizon Aircraft Services (formerly Hunter Flying) (MRO of military aircraft) took up occupation. The training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. They include those courses delivered today within

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6076-465: The ground at the foot of the adjacent hangar. The accident was investigated by an air crash investigation team and was attributed to pilot error. Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died. With the cause of the incident uncertain, three separate enquiries were undertaken, including one by

6174-435: The gunsight, as well as computer-calculated cueing information that located both the target and the proper position to fly to engage based on the selected weapon. For instance, when using missiles, the system guided the aircraft not toward its target, but a point behind it where the missile could be fired. This gave the system its name, AIRPASS , an acronym for aircraft interception radar and pilot's attack sight system. AI.23

6272-441: The headquarters staff at the University of Dundee attempted to develop their own solutions to the problem. This led to considerable strife and in-fighting between the two groups. The AI group was eventually broken up at the end of March 1940, leaving Bowen out of the AI effort. A solution was eventually provided by EMI who had developed a new type of transmitter that was not based on the common self exciting principle. Instead,

6370-418: The infamous 1957 Defence White Paper , but by this time the interim English Electric Lightning design, the P.1, had progressed to the point where development was undertaken anyway (along with TSR.2). This led to continued development of the AI.23 for this aircraft (and Mk. 20, see above), and it was given the official designation "ARI 5897". The system was mounted entirely in a single bullet-shaped housing that

6468-510: The inquiry was held up for 18 months. The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009. The decision was delayed till after the 2010 election. Then, on 19 October 2010, the DTR project was cancelled and Metrix UK lost its status as preferred bidder. On 18 July 2011, the Minister announced that MoD Lyneham would instead be used as an integrated training centre. The last aircraft to be serviced at DSG St Athan,

6566-552: The interception on their own. Interception rates over 80% was common, and on several occasions the system succeeded in getting every fighter launched into position for an attack. While the Dowding system proved invaluable inputs during daylight attacks, it was essentially useless against night raids. Once the enemy aircraft passed the coastline they could not be seen by the radars, and the ROC could not see at night except under ideal conditions with bright moonlight, no cloud cover, and considerable luck. Even when tracks could be developed,

6664-401: The map, and then from group to the sector HQs who would give instructions to the fighter pilots. Due to delays in the flow of information between the various centres, and inherent inaccuracies in the reports coming from multiple sources, this system was accurate to perhaps 5 miles (8.0 km). Within 5 miles the fighters would normally be able to spot their targets visually and complete

6762-408: The nucleus of the Station Flight which had been established when the researchers were briefly relocated to Scotland. It lasted less than two years, and was re-designated the Telecommunications Flying Unit in early November 1941. By that time it was located at RAF Hurn . During the Second World War the station had over 14,000 personnel, and was used for training ground and air crew. It was linked to

6860-427: The one in the Mk. VIII. It also included a switch that reduced the scanning pattern to a 15 degree cone in front of the aircraft, producing a C-scope view used during the final approach. This was paired with a new and much smaller display, allowing it to be fit to smaller single-seat aircraft. It was widely used on the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair . With Mk. IX cancelled in 1949, the Ministry of Supply (MoS) allowed

6958-405: The properties. The Sewage is handled by Kelda Water Services (Defence) Limited and fresh water, management of the private parking, street lighting and areas of play is handled by a society called the East Vale Residents Co. Ltd. who outsource to Cadarn, the parent group of Newydd Housing Association. East Camp houses a Food Bank. The St Athan Golf Club is to the rear (east) of East Camp, next to

7056-461: The radar could only see targets directly in front of the antenna, unlike the Mk. IV which could see anything in the entire volume in front of the aircraft. To solve this problem, the dish was mounted on a bearing system from Nash & Thompson that allowed it to be rotated in a spiral pattern. The cockpit display was modified to spin the timebase at the same speed as the antenna, 17 times a second. The display still produced blips similar to those on

7154-484: The radars and observation centres by telephone to a central station. Here, in the Fighter Command 's "filter room" at RAF Bentley Priory , operators would plot the map coordinates sent to them on a single large map, which allowed them to correlate multiple reports of the same target into a single track. Telephone operators, or "tellers", would then forward this information to group headquarters who would re-create

7252-513: The range between the Dowding system's 5-mile accuracy and the average visual spotting range, about 500 to 1,000 feet (150–300 m). As early as August 1936 "Taffy" Bowen , one of Robert Watson-Watt 's hand-picked radar development team, personally requested that he be allowed to start research into an airborne radar set for this role. This was approved, and the small aircraft interception team set up shop in Bawdsey Manor 's two towers. At

7350-480: The receiver causing it to oscillate or ring for a period. While this powerful signal was dying down, reflections from nearby aircraft were lost in the noise. Numerous solutions had been attempted, but were of limited use. Starting in late 1939 the development team was asked to fit the existing Mk. III design, of limited use, to aircraft. This ended further attempts to address the minimum range issue while they worked on installations. While their development effort ended,

7448-634: The second used conical scanning for tracking at close range. This was one of the earliest radars to offer track while scan (TWS) operation, although it did so through the use of what was essentially two radars. The APQ-43 was one of three designs also considered for updated versions of the Meteor and Venom, the others being the AN/APQ-35 which also had two-dish TWS, and the AN/APS-57. The -35 and -43 proved too large to install in these aircraft, forcing

7546-418: The selection of the -57 as the Mk. 21. The two TWS units proved interesting, and the -43 was considered for the Javelin. These were used in small numbers in the FAW.2 and FAW.6 models. Ferranti 's Mark 23 was an X band design originally designed for the modified Fairey Delta 2 proposed for the Ministry of Supply's Operational Requirement F.155 for a modern interceptor aircraft . Work on F.155 ended with

7644-436: The size of the system, allowing it to fit entirely in the nose of the aircraft. While a team under Herbert Skinner developed the electronics, Bernard Lovell was put in charge of examining the use of a parabolic dish to improve the directionality of the signal. The resulting beam was so sharply focussed, spanning about 10 degrees, that it easily avoided ground reflections at even low altitudes. The narrow beam also meant that

7742-455: The spiral-scan system that allowed it to track targets automatically without further manual operation. This became known as AIF. "Freddie" Williams joined the effort, and by the autumn of 1941 the system was basically functional and plans began to introduce it as the Mark IX. Several unrelated events conspired to greatly delay further progress. On 1 January 1942 Lovell was sent to work on

7840-473: The super-hangar by commercial aviation partners. Project Red Dragon would replace RAF St Athan's existing repair centre – spread out across the 1,000-acre (400 ha) site – and create a new, state-of-the-art facility. In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to

7938-471: The time, excellent performance for that era. Nevertheless, as AI.23 began successful trials the same year, further work on AI.20 was cancelled. The next year the MoS published a requirement for a new tail warning radar for the V bomber force, replacing the original Orange Putter , and quickly chose the AI.20 as its basis. This was developed into the ARI-5919 Red Steer , which differed from

8036-458: The time, radar development was in its infancy and the other teams were working with long- wavelength transmitters operating around 7 meters. An efficient antenna requires it to be about 1 ⁄ 2 the wavelength or more, which demanded antennas at least 3 metres (9.8 ft) long, impractical for an aircraft. Additionally, available transmitters were large, heavy and fragile. The first AI experiments thus used ground-based transmitters and

8134-435: The war. Practical ASV radars were operational in 1940, but the AI developments proved much more difficult. It was not until 1939, with the war obviously looming, that the team was once again moved back to AI development full-time. A lingering problem was that the minimum range remained around 1,000 feet, too long to allow easy interception. This was due to the transmitter signal not turning off sharply, leaking through to

8232-399: The window completely, as the light metal strips rapidly dispersed from the target being tracked, faster than the radar could follow. Further testing by Jackson demonstrated the opposite was true, and that the Mk. IX almost always locked-on to the window instead. Arthur Downing quickly implemented several changes to fix this problem. He was personally operating the system when he was shot down in

8330-595: Was a version of the Airpass dedicated to low-level flying, especially target detection, fitted to the Blackburn Buccaneer . Further development led to the terrain following radar used in the BAC TSR.2 . Many other variants were proposed for a wide variety of projects. The final radar in the UK series of AI designs to see deployment was the Mark 24, better known as "Foxhunter". Foxhunter was developed for

8428-510: Was able to detect and track a Bear-sized bomber at 40 miles (64 km), allowing the Lightning to accomplish fully independent interceptions with only the minimum of ground assistance. A version with fully automated guidance that would have flown the aircraft into range and fired its missiles automatically was cancelled in 1965. Further development of Airpass led to AI.23 Airpass II, code named "Blue Parrot" and also known as ARI 5930. This

8526-484: Was acquired by the Welsh Government and commercial aircraft companies such as ATC Lasham started to operate from buildings such as the former VC10 hangars. DARA steadily drew down their 'fast jet' and engines operations, closing both by April 2007; the 'large aircraft' business continued as part of the Defence Support Group (DSG) until its closure in 2012. In 2009, building work was due to commence on

8624-637: Was at this time that approval was given by the Airforce Board of the Defence Council for the formation of 2300 Sqn ATC. Following the demise of the Boy Entrant scheme in 1965, airman training returned to St Athan for the vehicle and general and Airframe, Engine aircraft maintenance trades. During the 1960s, a driving school was established. Recruits that needed to drive ( RAF Police , MT (Mechanical Transport) drivers, etc.) were trained in

8722-574: Was decided to produce another version of the Javelin with the US AN/APQ-43, which on paper appeared to be a better system. In RAF service the APQ-43 became the AI.22, and produced the Javelin FAW.2. In practice, the two systems offered similar performance and the AI.17 quality issues were soon addressed. Future versions of the Javelin mostly mounted the AI.17, although the AI.22 was also used on

8820-554: Was disbanded on 1 March 1992. The unit was formed at RAF Marham on 14 September 1988. RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion , Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan – the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915. In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs. Additional jobs would be created by allowing access to

8918-434: Was eventually won by AI.17. AI.17 was essentially a version of the Mk. IXC with a number of detail cleanups and a 200 kW magnetron, as well as the ability to cue the "Blue Jay" missile that was then under development. It could detect a Javelin-sized target at about 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi). AI.17 entered service with the Javelin in early 1956. Early sets had considerable reliability problems and it

9016-487: Was found that the ground reflection created a sort of artificial horizon on the bottom of the display, a surprising side-effect which proved very useful. However, the limited power of the magnetron, about 5 kW, provided range of about 3 miles (4.8 km), not a great improvement over the Mk. IV. Performance of the system at low altitude was so improved over the Mk. IV that it was decided to make an initial run of 100 units out of what were essentially prototype systems as

9114-533: Was home to the RAF No. 4 School of Technical Training throughout its life, as well as a major aircraft maintenance unit. St Athan has also been used to house British Army units, including the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards . At one time it was home to a large collection of historical aircraft. The only flying unit to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis is the Universities of Wales Air Squadron . This unit

9212-464: Was rarely achieved in practice. It also included various beacon homing modes, as well as an air-to-surface mode for detecting ships. This was modified to add a British strobe unit and variable pulse repetition frequency , becoming the Mark 21. The Mk. 21 was first used on the Meteor NF.12 and flew for the first time on the 21 April 1953, entering service in January 1954. Small improvements produced

9310-442: Was ready by August 1937 and fitted to Avro Anson K6260 at RAF Martlesham Heath . This unit demonstrated the ability to detect aircraft at the range of about 1 mile (1.6 km) in the air-to-air mode, but also demonstrated the ability to detect ships on the ocean at ranges up to 3 miles (4.8 km). This ability led to the split between AI and air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar systems, both of which would be widely used during

9408-423: Was suspended within the Lightning's circular nose air intake. The AI.23 was the world's first operational aircraft interception monopulse radar system. The monopulse method allows higher resolution and is far more resistant to common forms of jamming . AI.23 also included all of the features of earlier AI radars, and more. Among the highlights were an automatic lock-follow system which fed ranging information to

9506-482: Was taken to move the bombs to be detonated elsewhere. The following units were here at some point: After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton . 4SofTT then became a Boy Entrant School, with new recruits being trained in engine and airframe mechanics, and armament, electrical and instrument mechanics. It

9604-402: Was the UK version of the SCR-720. This was originally promised for delivery in the summer of 1942, but ran into delays and only started arriving in December 1943. These were fit to the Mosquito to produce the NF.XVII and later versions. Conversions at operational units began in January 1944, and the Mk. X remained in service through the rest of the war. Compared to the Mk. VIII, the SCR-720 used

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