(This document really is under construction: Not even all types of radars are listed yet and the list isn't necessarily complete for a single aircraft type!)
The designation PS stands for pulsspaningsradar, literally pulsed surveillance radar.
In an airborne laboratory, the B 3 called "Blondie", was installed an AN/APS-15 bombing radar. It probably was installed in late 1947 with the intention of using for ice situation reconnaissance in the Botnia Gulf.
The installation first flew in the summer of 1948.
This kind of radar was later used as weather radar with the designation PS-29 F with some wings.
In 1948-49 some B 18A bombers were converted into S 18A reconnaissance aircraft. As part of the conversion, they were fitted with Radiation Laboratories AN/APS-4 radars, with a range against ships of 50-60 km. Designation was PS-18A.
This was the first operational airborne radar in Sweden, and entered service in late summer 1948.
The radar weighed 88.4 kg and had two B-scopes of 40 x 64 mm usable area. Beam width was 6 deg, pulse effect 35 W.
Also some "pathfinder" B 18Bs had PS-18As.
The search and rescue Catalinas which were purchased in 1948 were retrofitted in Sweden with surplus AN/APS-3 radars, which were given the desination PS-19/A.
The sets weighed 147 kg. They had two B-scope 115 x 115 mm indicators which could be set at either 80 or 30 look angle.
The radar was X-band, 9.3 GHz, 3.2 cm. Pulse effect 35 W. The sets had a total of 56 tubes.
Pulse width 0.5 at a PRF of 1400, instrumented range 4 or 10 nautical miles 1.0 at PRF 750, instrumented range 40 or 80 nautical miles (or 2.0 microseconds at a PRF of 350, instrumented range 120 miles but this setting was only for use with "beacons" (secondary radar?) and not used in Sweden). Azimuth resolution (beam width) 4 deg, range resolution 75/150 m. Scan rate was 35 sweeps per minute.
Usable range in order to find ships was 10-40 nautical miles.
Exactly who had built the radars is unknown, but some components were made by Sperry and Westinghouse.
The Swedish night fighter Mosquitos were fitted with Radiation Laboratories SCR-720B. It was designated PS-01/A
Range was 12-16 km
Also had Radiation Laboratories SCR-720B which were installed in the Venoms in Sweden.
For some reason they were then designated PS-20/A.
Later on the Venoms got IR sights in front of the canopy and the gyro sight Mk. V was integrated with it and the radar.
The radar in the attack/strike version A 32A was designated PS-43/A. It was designed by CSF (Compagnie Generale de Telegrahpi Sans Fil) after a Swedish specification. 17 sets were delivered together with blueprints in 1953-54. These were not installed in Lansens, but used in the workshops to calibrate against.
In Sweden it was licence produced as PS-431/A. SRA (Svenska Radio AB) made the modulator, indicator and power supply, LM Ericsson transmitter and receiver and SAAB the antenna assembly.
The A 32A had the Saab BT9C reflex bomb sight (which has been widely used in other aircraft too, notably USAF F-84 and B-57), designated Reflexsikte 5.
On top of the sight was fitted a camera, either RKa 9 och RKa 14 (RegisterKamera), filming both the target and the sight picture. In the left wing root was a gun camera, KKa 4 (KulspruteKamera, literally machine gun camera).
Only about 25% of the A 32As were fitted with radar, for the simple reason that they were never to operate in smaller units than that.
The reconnaissance version S 32C got a radar called PS-432/A which was like a PS-431/A but with a greater instrumented range. Initially, only the S 32Cs tasked with maritime surveillance were intended to get radars (only, and the others cameras only), but eventally they were all given radars.
The night fighter version J 32B had a radar designated PS-42/A which was a Swedish/French development based on the PS-431/A but given 3D capacity. It was also jointly manufactured, but in this case the antenna assembly wasn't built by SAAB, but by CSF.
It could search in azimuth 60 deg to each side and elevation 60 deg up and 30 deg down.
As opposed to other Lansen versions, in this the pilot had a radar display, F-scope, for his own use and not only the navigator, for use during the phase after lockon.
The reflex sight was designated Sikte 6A, which was used with all weapons for both air and ground targets. On it could be projected radar information and target data from the IR sight, Hughes AN/AAR-4, under the left wing, to allow attacks using the sight without any visual contact with the target.
I don't think we'd call this sort of radio navigation equipment "radar" today, but that's how they're designated, so they're included here anyway.
Lansen was fitted with PN-50/A (PulsNavigeringsradar). Externally it's represented by the blade aerials on top of the wings and the one under the nose. It was used to determine range and bearing to the ground beacons of type PN-51, Anita and for glide slope information in elevation and azimut with the landing aid PN-52, Barbro.
PN-52 was replaced with by a more modern radio beacon designated PN-55, still called Anita/Barbro (typical Swedish female names). These beacons also were modified to work with the pulse coded signal from Draken's PN-59.
The radar altimeter which had one antenna under the forward and one under the rear fuselage was designated PH-11/A (PulsradarHöjdmätare). Instrumented range was 10 to 200 m.
In spite of its designation it wasn't really a pulse radar but a CW radio altimeter with varying frequency. Altitude was computed based on the difference between transmitted and received frequency.
In addition to that they had something called PN-794/A Saturnus, likely IFF.
Some Pembrokes had PS-02/A fitted for for training of Draken pilots.
Some had PS-431/A for training of Lansen radar operators.
The gun air to air ranging radar was designated PE46/A in Sweden.
The very first Drakens were delivered without radars. The first version with a radar at delivery was the J 35A with long afterburner which got Thomson-CSF Cyrano that were licence produced by Ericsson and designated PS-02/A in Swedish service. They were integrated with the sight type 6A.
The first Drakens of the more powerful J 35B version were also delivered without radars and only fitted with a simple reflex gyro sight type 4E, but they were soon rebuilt and given a radar of type PS-03/A which was wholly Swedish and delivered in 1961-65.
The J 35D version also was fitted with PS-03/A and 7A. and integrated sights type 7A.
The J 35F intitally had a radar type PS-01/A which was made in 1964-70. The J 35F weapons system, including the sight of type 7B capable of all aspect attacks, fed more information to the missiles, such as range, relative movement, air pressure and temperature.
Later J 35Fs were given upgraded radars designated PS-011/A which was also fitted in those converted to J 35J standard. Some J 35Fs, those designated J 35F2, were fitted with Hughes S-71N (AN/AAR-4) IR-seekers, all J 35Js had them.
PS-05/A
Can see road traffic and count ships
at anchor in a harbour at 70 km. (2002)
Power consumption at full power is 7kW.
2004: The Mk 3 Jura single processor version is the current Swedish air force and export baseline radar.
2004: The fourth generation Greta version, high resolution SAR, is being prepared for an upgrade programme for the Swedish air force.
2004: The fifth generation Nora is planned for flight tests on a Viggen in late 2004. It will have an actively scanned array (AESA) and scan +-60 deg electronically and 60 deg mechanically in azimut, permitting scanning over a 240 deg arc and electronically +-60 deg up and downwards.
Maritime surveillance. PS-864 and FLIR.
The HKP 14 helicopter will get Telephonics Ocean Eye APS-143B(V)3 radars.
Document last updated 2004-02-23 by Urban Fredriksson
griffon@canit.se