Originally Posted by
Mooncrest
Does availability of the SRA depend on the make and model of the radar, to any degree ? I believe the old Decca 424 and the Plessey 430 were geared as both general airfield radars as well as the SRA facility whereas the likes of the Marconi 264 weren't suitable for the job; something to do with the big blips, probably. I've never worked in ATC so please indulge any misunderstandings.
I don't know if the latest Raytheon, Thales etc. radars are approved for SRAs.
To a degree, in that only certain radars were sufficiently accurate to use for half mile SRAs: not so much the size, iirc, more to do with the ability to accurately plot the position. The flight check regime for SRAs of less than two miles was quite onerous, from memory, which increased costs. With the improvements in approach aids over the years, the need for radar with that degree of accuracy diminished to almost zero, there are better/cheaper ways of achieving the same result, now - the equipment may be able to do it, but the odds of having the right ATCO in the seat if the need arises is pretty slim. The currency & recency requirements make it difficult to manage at the bigger units - passenger jets don't really want to compromise their approach for the sake of ATCO training/currency. These days, most ATCOs will do more simulated SRAs whilst initial training, than they'll ever do in the real world.