The AI.24 ''Foxhunter'' was an

airborne radar Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

carried by the

Panavia Tornado ADV The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 19 ...

fighter aircraft (known as the Tornado F3 in

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

service) and gave it an all-weather, day and night, beyond-visual-range engagement capability.

Production

The radar was manufactured by GEC-Marconi subsidiaries and other partners, with major parts from

Ferranti Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was known ...

. Despite initial problems, (the radar was several years late and 60 percent over budget) successive upgrades constantly improved the RAF's Tornado F3 fleet.

Development

Much of the radar system and related operational software was developed at the Radar Research Laboratory of GEC-Marconi Elliott Avionic Systems Ltd., initially at the Elliott Automation plant in

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

, Hertfordshire,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and latterly (from 1981 to 2004) as

Marconi Avionics BAE Systems Avionics was the avionics unit of BAE Systems until 2005, at which time it was transferred to SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems S.p.A. (initially 75% Finmeccanica and 25% BAE Systems, but since March 2007 fully owned by Finmeccani ...

at the (formerly the Xerox site of a matrix of interconnected grey portacabins and a few factory units) facility on Monks Way, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes. This site has changed completely in the years since, but there is now a Foxhunter Drive starting where the high security gate was.

History

The radar was flight tested on a

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of on ...

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688, ...

and first flew in a Tornado F.2 in June 1981.

Contractual relationships

In 1987 GEC argued that the contractual relationships were partly to blame for the delay in the Foxhunter entering service – although GEC was responsible for most of the radar, Ferranti manufactured the antenna platform (the scanner less the antenna) and transmitter and reported to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

who acted as the prime contactor. A new contract was signed in March 1988 and described as "tight" (i.e. not lenient towards Marconi) by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

''.

Production delays

Production Tornado F.2s had

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

ballast in place of the Foxhunter radar, due to the development delays. This ballast became known as the "

Blue Circle Blue Circle Industries was a British public company manufacturing cement. It was founded in 1900 as the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd through the fusion of 24 cement works, mostly around on the Thames and Medway estuaries, toge ...

radar", a play on words from a British brand of cement by the same name, and the

Rainbow Codes The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects. They were mainly used by the Ministry of Supply from the end of the Second World War until 1958, when the ministry was broke ...

previously used for British radars. The UK's Tornado F3 fleet were ultimately equipped with "Stage 3 AI.24s".

References

External links

Implementation in the Tornado
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ai.24 Foxhunter Aircraft radars Ferranti General Electric Company Military radars of the United Kingdom Military equipment introduced in the 1980s