AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards

RAF Bawdsey Royal Air Force Bawdsey or more simply RAF Bawdsey is a former Royal Air Force station situated on the eastern coast in Suffolk, England. Also known as Bawdsey Research Station (BRS), the first Chain Home radar station was built there, charact ...

) in the immediate pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

era. The team was forced to move on three occasions, changing names as part of these moves, so the AMES name applies only to the period between 1936 and 1939. Although used as a name by the team itself only briefly, the AMES acronym became the basis for naming

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

radar systems through the war. The same numbering sequence was used after the war as well, but often dropped the AMES from the name. A good example is the Type 80, which was officially AMES Type 80, but often appears without that marque. Many post-war systems were also assigned a rainbow code and are better known by that name. The AMES numbering scheme was often ''ad hoc'', with some entries simply being other sets operating together. For instance, the Type 21 was simply a Type 13 and Type 14 in a single vehicle convoy. In other cases Types differ only in minor details, like the Type 31 through 34, which are the same radars mounted in various ways. They are also often out-of-order; the Type 8 was the prototype for the Type 7.

Equipment

* AMES Type 1,

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...

(CH) –

Early Warning An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a Poset, chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, Detection theory, event detection and decision support system, decision subsystems for early identi ...

* AMES Type 2,

Chain Home Low Chain Home Low (CHL) was the name of a British early warning radar system operated by the RAF during World War II. The name refers to CHL's ability to detect aircraft flying at altitudes below the capabilities of the original Chain Home (CH) r ...

(CHL) – Early Warning, low altitude * AMES Type 3, Type 1 and Type 2 operating in close proximity * AMES Type 4, Chain Overseas (CO), also known as Intermediate (ICH) * AMES Type 5, Chain Overseas Low (COL) * AMES Type 6, Light Warning Set *

AMES Type 7 The Air Ministry Experimental Station, AMES Type 7, also known as the Final GCI, was a ground-based radar system introduced during World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Type 7 was the first truly modern radar used by the Allies, providing ...

, Final static

Ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic wa ...

(GCI) station (Happidrome) * AMES Type 8, Various marks of GCI radars, mobile and semi-static * AMES Type 9, Mobile Chain Home * AMES Type 10, Mobile Air Transportable System * AMES Type 11, Type 8 adapted to work at 600 MHz in case 1.5 m CHL/GCI was jammed * AMES Type 12, Low Frequency transportable Chain Home Low. * AMES Type 13, 10 cm "Nodding"

Height Finder A height finder is a ground-based aircraft altitude measuring device. Early height finders were optical range finder devices combined with simple mechanical computers, while later systems migrated to radar devices. The unique vertical oscillating ...

. Transmitter and Receiver of Naval Type 277 – Marconi * AMES Type 14, 10 cm surveillance radar – Marconi * AMES Type 15, GCI radar, mobile version of Type 7 * AMES Type 16, Fighter Direction Station * AMES Type 17, Fighter Direction (abandoned) * AMES Type 18, CHL/GCI Modified Type 11 Mk2 (H) with height finding (abandoned) * AMES Type 19, GCI Final Standby Type * AMES Type 20, Decimetric Height Finder * AMES Type 21, Tactical Control. Five vehicle GCI convoy – Marconi * AMES Type 22, GCI / COL (similar to AMES Type 11) * AMES Type 23, LOMAN Overseas

LORAN LORAN (Long Range Navigation) was a hyperbolic navigation, hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee (navigation), Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order ...

system * AMES Type 24, Long range 10 cm Height Finder * AMES Type 25, Experimental CHL * AMES Type 26, GCI British version of American MEW ( Microwave Early Warning) * AMES Type 27, Air Transportable GCI * AMES Type 28, CMH Air transportable Height Finder * AMES Type 29, CHEL ( Chain Home Extra Low) Air transportable (abandoned) * AMES Type 30, CD (

Coast Defence Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...

) / CHL ( Admiralty only) * AMES Type 31, CHEL CD in wooden hut * AMES Type 32, CHEL CD –

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...

– none built * AMES Type 33, CHEL CD – brick built * AMES Type 34, CHEL CD 200 ft tower * AMES Type 37, CHEL CD * AMES Type 40, CD/CHL * AMES Type 41, CHEL * AMES Type 42, CHEL * AMES Type 43, CHEL * AMES Type 44, CHEL * AMES Type 46, CHEL * AMES Type 47, CHEL * AMES Type 48, CHEL * AMES Type 50, CHEL * AMES Type 70, a combination of Type 13, 14 and several other systems organized into a huge convoy of vehicles for mobile large-scale operations. Two such collections put together. * AMES Type 79, an

IFF Mark X IFF Mark X was the NATO standard military identification friend or foe transponder system from the early 1950s until it was slowly replaced by the IFF Mark XII in the 1970s. It was also adopted by ICAO, with some modifications, as the civilian air t ...

interrogator retrofit to some Type 7 stations during

ROTOR ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...

* AMES Type 100, 20–80

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

Transponder-based navigation system – GEE-H * AMES Type 700, 1.7–2.0

Hyperbolic navigation system – LORAN * AMES Type 7000, 30–60 MHz Hyperbolic navigation system – GEE ground station * AMES Type 9000, 200 MHz transponder-based navigation system –

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

Mk I ground station – Oboe Mk III, S band

Mobile units

Mobile radar units, usually consisting of COL, GCI, or similar equipment, mounted in vehicles, was used extensively overseas, and these units received numerical designations preceded by 'AMES', e.g., ''AMES 1505'' – one of the units providing GCI coverage of the

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

sector during the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allies of World War II, Allied Amphibious warfare, amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. T ...

Fighter Direction Tenders

Three

Landing Ship, Tank A Landing Ship, Tank (LST) is a ship first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto a low-slope beach with no dock (maritime), docks or pier ...

(LST) were converted into "Fighter Direction Tenders" (FDT), swapping their landing craft for Motor Launches and outfitted with AMES Type 11 and Type 15 fighter control radar to provide GCI coverage for air defence of the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landing areas. Of these ships, ''FDT 216'' was stationed off

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

beaches, ''FDT 217'' was allocated

Sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

, Juno, and

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

beaches. ''FDT 13'' was used for coverage of the overall main shipping channel. In the period 6 to 26 June Allied fighters controlled by the FDTs resulted in the destruction of 52 enemy aircraft by day, and 24 enemy aircraft by night.

Post-War

Post

in addition to the ''AMES Type XX'' designation new equipment was also allocated a Rainbow Code name during development, e.g., AMES Type 86 was allocated the code name ''Blue Anchor''. In addition, the manufacturing company,

Ferranti Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...

, had its own internal and marketing name for the equipment, in this case, ''Firelight''. * AMES Type 79 – version of IFF Mark 10 using separate antennas, used with upgraded

* AMES Type 80, 2.850/3.050

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

1 MW

S-Band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...

Early Warning radar – a.k.a. Green Garlic –

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

– high performance system made

obsolete * AMES Type 81, version of the Type 80 intended for fighter direction, but never built. Role went to Type 80 Mark III instead. * AMES Type 82, 3 GHz 3D tactical control radar for

Bristol Bloodhound The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of f ...

– a.k.a. Orange Yeoman – Marconi * AMES Type 83, 4 GHz/10 GHz mobile tactical control radar for Bristol Bloodhound 1 – a.k.a. Yellow River, ''Stingray'' – BTH, later Marconi *

AMES Type 84 The Air Ministry Experimental Station, AMES Type 84, also known as the Microwave Early Warning or MEW, was a 23 cm wavelength early warning radar used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as part of the Linesman/Mediator radar network. Operating in ...

, 1.2 GHz 2.5 MW

L band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

surveillance radar, a.k.a. Microwave Early Warning, Blue Label – Marconi *

AMES Type 85 The AMES Type 85, also known by its rainbow code Blue Yeoman, was an extremely powerful early warning (EW) and fighter direction (GCI) radar used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as part of the Linesman/Mediator radar network. First proposed in ea ...

, 2.75/3.2 5 GHz, 54 MW – a.k.a. Blue Yeoman, '' Linesman'' – AEI, later Marconi. q.v. RX12874 a.k.a. ''Winkle'' * AMES Type 86, 10 GHz mobile CW target illuminator radar for Bristol Bloodhound 2 – a.k.a. Blue Anchor, ''Firelight'' –

* AMES Type 87, Bloodhound Mk 2 guidance control system a.k.a. ''Scorpion'' - some sources claim this was initially applied to the Blue Joker

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

-borne radar, but there is no solid evidence of this and it was cancelled in 1960 before it proceeded to production and would have been assigned a number * AMES Type 88, 1.3 GHz/3 GHz Tactical Control/Surveillance radar – used in conjunction with AMES Type 89 – pair a.k.a. Green Ginger – Marconi * AMES Type 89, 3 GHz Tactical Control

– used in conjunction with AMES Type 88 – pair a.k.a. Green Ginger – Marconi * AMES Type 90, 1.3 GHz 3MW Early Warning/Fighter Control radar, Marconi ''Martello S713'' * AMES Type 91, 1.3 GHz 132 kW Early Warning/Fighter Control radar – a.k.a., ''Martello S723'' * AMES Type 92, RAF name for

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

AN/FPS-117 * AMES Type 93, Plessey AR-320 * AMES Type 94, Plessey AR-3D * AMES Type 96, Marconi S649, dual-band 3/1.3 GHz 2D long-range early warning radar. Used at RAF Saxa Vord paired with Plessey HF200 height-finders. * AMES Type 99, Westinghouse AN/TPS-43 captured in Argentina * AMES Type 101, RAF name for the BAE Commander (formerly Plessy AR327) long-range radar.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * The history of ground radar in the UK during World War II * {{cite book , last1=Latham , first1=Colin , last2=Stobbs , first2=Anne , title=Radar A Wartime Miracle , publisher=Sutton , location=Stroud , year=1996 , isbn=0-7509-1643-5 , name-list-style=amp A history of radar in the UK during World War II told by the men and women who worked on it.

External links