A radar gunsight is a type of

gunsight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

for aerial combat that combines a

gyro gunsight A gyro gunsight (G.G.S.) is a modification of the non-magnifying reflector sight in which target lead (the amount of aim-off in front of a moving target) and bullet drop are calculated automatically. The first examples were developed in Britain ...

with a small

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, w ...

. They were introduced just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and used into the 1960s. After that, more complex sighting systems and

heads up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informat ...

s replaced these designs. The APG-30 gunsight is credited with giving the

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

the edge over the

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one o ...

in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, the two types being similarly matched otherwise but the gunsight allowing longer range accurate fire. The proper calculation of lead requires two values, the distance to the target and the turn that the attacking aircraft is making. The turn can be measured directly using a gyroscope, and such systems had been introduced during WWII. These had no direct way to measure the range to the target, however, requiring the pilot to estimate the range or measure it using simple optical devices. Radar gunsights simply add a small radar to the system to directly and automatically measure the range continually during the attack. This automates the calculation and lowers pilot workload. Early use led to reviews of excellent performance, with hits being recorded at ranges up to , a range that would formerly be considered unattainable.

References

* Military optical devices {{mil-stub