A tail warning radar, sometimes TW for short, was a short-lived class of aircraft-mounted

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 ...

systems used to provide warning of another aircraft approaching from the rear. They were mostly used on

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 ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s, starting with the

Monica Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

system fit to

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 ...

(RAF)

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the large ...

s starting in June 1942. The set was also produced in the US as the AN/APS-13, but used primarily on late-war fighter aircraft like the

Republic P-47 The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...

and

North American P-51 The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H ...

. These had to be withdrawn over Europe in 1944 when it was learned the ''Luftwaffe'' was homing in on their signals using the Flensburg radar detector. A small number were then transferred to RAF

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

night fighters to attract the German fighters, and when one was seen approaching the Mosquito would perform a controlled 360 degree turn that would result in the German aircraft in front of the Mosquito and centered in their radar. During the same time, the ''Luftwaffe'' began adding additional rearward-pointing antennas to their

night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used ...

s as an ad-hoc tail warning radar to provide some protection from these dreaded "

Serrate Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied ...

" intruder flights. Dedicated tail warning radars were used for a relatively short time, from late-WWII through the 1950s. After that time, the increasing speeds of aircraft and the ability to shoot from off-axis angles using

air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying ...

s eroded their usefulness. One of the last major uses was the Red Steer system on the

V bomber The "V bombers" were the Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear strike force known officially as the V force or Bomber Command Main Force. The three models of strategic ...

s, a long-range system that was used to help the electronics warfare officer properly time the use of jammers and chaff. Today, similar tasks are generally provided by passive receiver systems that listen for the signals from the

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are ...

's radars; such systems do not provide range information but are still useful while not giving off any signals of their own. These systems also have the advantage of working against air and ground radars, which became important as the main anti-aircraft threat moved to

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s (SAMs). A new class of tail warning radars emerged in the 1980s, primarily as a counter to SAM fire. The AN/ALQ-153 was used on the

Boeing B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air F ...

G and H and

Rockwell B-1 The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along w ...

B aircraft and saw action during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. The

Automatic Gun Laying Turret The Automatic Gun-Laying Turret (AGLT), also known as the Frazer-Nash FN121, was a radar-directed, rear gun turret fitted to some British bombers from 1944. AGLT incorporated both a low-power tail warning radar and fire-control system, which cou ...

used on

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...

bombers combined tail warning with

gun laying A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, ...

. Systems like these were found on many post-war bomber designs and are generally regarded as a separate class.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , first=Maurice , last=Rubin , title= Radar: The Electronic Eye , publisher=Chemical Publishing Company , date=1963 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxR5AAAAIAAJ , page=291 , isbn=9780820600871 Aircraft radars Military radars