[ARC5] APW-11 and SCR-584

[Robert Eleazer]

The SCR-584 autotrack antiaircraft radar was also adapted to a number of other uses.  For AAA use the 584 was designed to produce highly accurate azimuth and elevation data, and that was useful for numerous applications.   During WWII, after the Normandy invasion SCR-584's were located in forward areas in Europe and used to locate lost fighter pilots.  It was also adapted to enable blind bombing by aircraft not equipped with ground-mapping radar, which was a use of the APW-11.  

Postwar the SCR-584 was used as an instrumentation radar at test ranges until replaced by the venerable FPS-16.

The APW-11 concept eventually developed into the X band Pulse Beacon Decoders used for guidance of Air Force Atlas ICBM's and space boosters, which continued into the 1990's, with the final operational GERTS station at Vandenberg AFB.

Wayne