RADAR 2008

Radar 2003

download RADAR 2003 book of abstracts here

Historical background to radar and radar conferences in Australia

Perhaps the country of Australia does not readily associate with "radar". More likely our northern hemisphere colleagues think of this country in terms of sun and surf and perhaps Crocodile Dundee. But Australia, as the host country for RADAR 2003, has a distinguished history in radar that is probably largely unknown to many and warrants a few words in association with a report of the very successful RADAR 2003 held in Australia.

Australian involvement in radar goes back to the earliest days of radar development¹ . As a far-distant colony of the UK, Australia, as early as the 1920s, was strongly driven to develop radio science for communication. This provided a fertile environment for Australian development and production of radar sets during World War II. A number of unique sets were produced in this country, adapted from British and US designs, to suit the particular operational and environmentally-extreme conditions of the Pacific War. They were produced in significant numbers and used by both US and Australian operational units in the Pacific. For example, 1300 units of the British-designed ASV MkII were produced in Australia² .

Dr E G Bowen, the first recruit of British radar pioneer Watson-Watt in their pre-World War II radar development program, became Chief of Australia's CSIRO Radiophysics Laboratory immediately after the war. This laboratory was the focus of radar research in Australia in the 1940s. In more recent times the Australian defence research laboratories of what is now the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, DSTO, in South Australia took over responsibility for defence radar research.

These Defence laboratories in South Australia saw a significant number of other celebrated UK war-time radar experts join their ranks. Among them was WAS Butement, Director of Scientific Research, UK Ministry of Supply (1940-1946) who is credited (with PE Pollard) with the first demonstration of radar in Britain (1930, pre-dating the Watson-Watt and Wilkins 1935 demonstration). In Australia he became Chief (Defence) Scientist (1949-67). Another was RJ Dippy, a member of Watson-Watt's Bawdsey Manor team in the UK's war-time radar development and inventor of the blind-bombing system Gee. The system concepts were later further developed in the US, with Dippy as adviser, to become LORAN-A. Dippy became a Divisional head of research in Australia.

Among the most celebrated radar innovations of DSTO is the over-the-horizon HF radar system, the Jindalee Operational Radar Network, JORN. After a long period of DSTO development and credibility-building this has recently entered operational service as a prime long range defence sensor for Australia. Its control centre is at the Edinburgh Airbase in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, close to the DSTO laboratories that gave the Jindalee system its birth. During RADAR 2003 a day-long stream of technical papers was devoted to HF radar and it proved to be a major attraction to world experts in this field.

Radar research continues to pay dividends for Australia in terms of new capabilities and applications.

Radar conferences in Australia

Despite Australia's long and deep history in radar, radar conferences held on these shores are few and far between.

Before RADAR 2003 the only previous radar conference that could claim an 'international' tag was RADARCON '90. Dr Don Sinnott was General Chair of RADARCON '90, as for RADAR 2003, and, in the welcome notes to the RADAR 2003 proceedings, notes that "it has been a long time between drinks".

RADAR 2003 represents the first time Australia has hosted this five nation series of RADAR 20xx conferences for which the AESS Radar Systems panel acts as international guardian. It was from the suggestion of Radar Systems Panel members Bob Hill and Mark Davis, frequent visitors to Australia, during meetings with the General Chair that the idea of RADAR 2003 in Australia took root. RADAR 2003 was an eminently successful conference and it is our plan to embed Australia firmly in the series from now on.

¹Bowen, EG Radar Days, IOP Publishing Ltd, Bristol, 1987, Chap 13

²Op cit, p209