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A radar tower is a
File:Neunkirchner Hoehe Radarturm.jpg, Tower with en route radar at '' Neunkircher Höhe'' in the Odenwald
File:Radarturm Süderelbe Altenwerder 06.jpg, Radar tower for monitoring shipping on the South Elbe river opposite the Altenwerder Container Terminal, Hamburg
File:Weesow_Radarturm.jpg, The Former Weesow radar tower in Werneuchen
Le radar au sommet du grand ballon. 2014-10-28.jpg, Radar station on a mountain in France
{{commons category, Radar towers
Radar
A radar tower is a tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
whose function is to support a radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
facility, usually a local airport surveillance radar, and hence often at or in the vicinity of an airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
or a military air base
An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...
. In addition, radar towers are used for the installation and operation of search and height finder radars at military radar stations where the mission is to support air defense missions. These missions were characterized as Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) or Long Range Surveillance in support of the Semi-automatic Ground Environment (SAGE).
The tower typically has a continuously rotating parabolic antenna. Often the antenna is protected from the weather by a radome
A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and conceal antenna e ...
and is thus not visible from the outside.
For regional air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
, en route radar installations are used; for example there are six of these in Germany, erected at selected sites. The data from these radars is fed into the civilian ''RADNET'' system and transferred to all civil and military control centres.
Ideally a radar tower is built on a high spot in the terrain, because this reduces the angle of elevation and thus increases the range of the radar device. In the absence of a suitable high spot, radar towers are used. Radar towers are also need to provide weather protection and services (air conditioning and power) for the radar equipment, communications, operators and maintainers
In Germany the operational command posts of the German Air Force use the Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
radar towers for the stationary radar sites of the operational command areas.
Military radar stations have supported US and allied air defense operations at numerous worldwide locations since World War II. The largest network of military radar stations evolved during the Cold War era to support the air defense of North America as part of the joint US and Canadian command known as the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). This military radar network became automated in 1960 with the operation of SAGE. SAGE provided the vital command, control, communications, and computers (C4S). Long Range Radar (LRR) stations were electronically connected to SAGE Direction Centers (DCs). This resulted in an integrated air defense system made up of radar, radio, interceptor aircraft, antiaircraft guns and missiles, and command and control (C2) facilities. Most of the radar and radio facilities were not on a military air base, but smaller Air Force Stations (AFS) usually located in rural and often isolated locations often miles away from even small towns. They were manned by up to several hundred Air Force personnel. An online radar museum provides descriptions of military radar stations at radomes.org/museum. Photographs of radar towers and radomes are provided. This includes the AN/FPS-24 search radar tower in a huge 64 foot square, 85 foot tall, five story building. On top of this radar tower was a radar antenna 50 feet tall, 120 feet wide, weighing 85.5 tons and rotating at 5 rpm. An available rigid radome 140 feet in diameter and 96 feet high protected this antenna from adverse weather conditions.