The P-20 "Periskop" (; ), also referred to by the

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

"Token" in the west, is a 2D E band/ F band

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 ...

developed and operated by the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Development

The P-20 development was started in 1946 when State Federal Order of the Red Banner Research Institute Number 20 (now called All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Radio Engineering or VNIIRT) was given the task of developing stationary and mobile early warning ground control and interception radar for the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

. The stationary radar later became the P-50 but the mobile radar was to become the P-20. The design inspired a number of successors including the P-30, P-35 and P-37 radar. The P-20 was the first Russian radar to use the decimetric wavelength, the first prototype being created in 1947, and a factory test unit in 1949. By 1949 the radar had completed state trials and was accepted into wide service within the Soviet airforce, the designers of the P-20 were awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1950 in recognition of the achievement.

Description

The P-20 is a semi-mobile radar with equipment mounted on eight ZIl-151 trucks, components include the control cabin and power supply equipment as well as a trailer for the antenna and transmitter equipment. The antenna system of the P-20 consists of two open frame truncated

parabolic antenna A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or p ...

e accomplishing both

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

and reception. The radar uses two antenna to determine target altitude by the V-beam system with azimuth scanned mechanically. The upper antenna is tilted to an angle of 45 degrees from horizontal which results in each target appearing twice on the indicator, the distance between the two allows the targets altitude to be approximately estimated by the operator. The P-20 had four indicators to display the information generated from the radar, panoramic, range and altitude as well as a remote indicator. The radar used five separate channels for reception and transmission, using different frequencies to avoid mutual interference between the beams, three beam channels being used by the upper antenna and two for the lower antenna.

Operators

The P-20 was operated by the Soviet Union from 1949 and though the radars have since become obsolete, they were passed down to successor states after the fall of the Soviet Union. The design has been superseded by later designs like the P-37 radar. * *

References

{{Soviet and Russian radars, state=expanded Soviet military radars Military vehicles introduced from 1945 to 1949

Development

Description

Operators

See also

References