[ARC5] Re: A.R.C. Alternatives

[gordon white]

   Alternatives to the Type K-based Command sets are like alternatives 
to the jet engine, once it had been seen in prototypes - unrealistic, 
certainly in 1940 when the need was there in spades. The SCR-240 was 
described in Air Corps correspondence that I have seen, as too big and 
heavy for fighter aircraft.  It also suffered from the shortage of raw 
material from which to make the required crystals. The "alternative" was 
the RU/ GF or SCR-183/283 which, in fact, was kept in production far 
longer than at this remote point in time seems to make sense. A monument 
to procurement practices in 1941-1943.

    Of course VHF, at least in Europe, would have been the answer - the 
SCR-522.  Whether it would have been adopted earlier, or even if it was 
available (a British design produced in the U.S. under license) I cannot 
say. 

    But if  the type K had not existed  the RU/GF, SCR-183 would have 
been continued in use. Other designs undoubtedly would have been 
pursued,  but the A.R.C. Type K  was the right design at the right place 
at the right time. I have not seen anything else to match it in 1939-1943.

- Gordon White