Originally Posted by
msbbarratt
To give you an idea of the race, at the beginning of its operational history the Lancaster was carrying a radio, and that was about it. By the end of the war it was carrying up to 2 tons of electronics, just to survive and operate over Germany. 2 tons! I got this off an old chap who had managed to collect an example of everything the Lanc had carried, and it was impressive.
Freeman Dyson advocated getting rid of all gun turrets to make the Lanc 50mph faster and more maneuverable. The powers that be wouldn't listen. Whilst I doubt that the added weight of electronics allowed it to survive, ( systems such as Monica and Fishpond were homed in on by the Germans and Gee was jammed all the way from the Dutch coast and beyond) H2S did allow for more accurate navigation.