V-Bomber electronic suite curious names

[Finningley Boy]

I've been giving myslef a headache recently trying to recall the different oddball sounding terms and references, I believe for security reasons, used back in the day to refere to elements of the V-Bomber Force's EW suite. Could any kindly person, ex-Valiant/Vulcan/Victor perhaps enlighten me. I recall a ppruner responded on a different thread some years back and mentioned a couple in passing!

FB:confused:

[Asturias56]

IF IIRC the colours were used for various TYPES of program - eg Blue = Missile, Green = electronics and then the usual "pick-it-off a -list" MoD code name

[Archimedes]

FB - there is a list of Rainbow Codes (use that term for Googlage) on Wikipedia. I’d provide the link, but my iPad is having a senior moment and not copying from address bars this morning...

[ORAC]

Quite a few mentioned here.

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/research/RAF-Historical-Society-Journals/Journal-28-Seminar-Electronic-Warfare.pdf

GREEN PALM - VHF comms barrage jammer (Mks 1A & 2 V-Bombers)
BLUE DIVER - metric barrage jammer* (Mks 1A & 2 V- Bombers)
BLUE SAGA - passive RWR (Mks 1A & 2 V-Bombers)
RED SHRIMP – S (or E)-band barrage jammer (Mks 1A & 2 V-Bombers)
RED STEER Mk 1 - tail warning radar (Mk 2 V-Bombers)
RED STEER Mk 2 - tail warning radar (Mk 2 V-Bombers)

.....Figure 1 shows the locations of the Vulcan’s main jammers. In the early days there was a VHF communications jammer, ARI 18074, known as GREEN PALM; it is not actually shown in the diagram but its antenna was at the top of the fin. ARI 18075, BLUE DIVER, had notched aerials at the wing tips, and the ARI 18076, RED SHRIMP, antennas were normally located on the flat plates between Nos 3 and 4 engines, although most of the BLUE STEEL aircraft had them between Nos 1 and 2 engines as well. The jammer power units and the transmitters were housed in the large cans within the tail bulge. All of this kit had been specifically designed to counter the Soviet high level threats of the 1950s but they were of rather less value once the force had adopted low level tactics.

Figure 2 is a closer view of the tail showing the massive size of the power units and the transmitter cans of the DIVERS and SHRIMPS. I do not recall ever actually knowing what their total weight was, but it must have been several thousand pounds. In fact it was 1978 before I came to appreciate just how big those cans really were.

We had lost an aircraft just outside of Chicago and I was involved in the Board of Inquiry. Apart from the engines and the undercarriage units, the most substantial pieces of wreckage were the cans and I was responsible for making sure that they were returned safely to the UK. They each stood about 31⁄2 feet high and had a diameter of about 2 feet – about the size of a domestic dustbin. They drew a lot of electrical power in their transmit mode, the total load on the aircraft being about 40 KW, which went some way to explaining why the Vulcan B.2 was blessed with four engine-driven 40 KvA alternators.

The biggest single consumer of power in the Vulcan, however, was the Vapour Cycle Cooling Pack, the VCCP. Located towards the rear of the tail compartment, it circulated a water-glycol mixture around the ECM cans. The VCCP drew about 8-10 KW in normal running, but a massive 40 KW on start-up. You will recall that reference has previously been made to the constraints imposed on the employment of EW equipment by the limited power supplies of earlier aeroplanes. Power was no longer a problem with the V-bombers, but heat dissipation was – hence the VCCP.......

Full(?) list here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Code

Rainbow Code

The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects. They were mainly used by the Ministry of Supply (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Supply) from the end of the Second World War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World_War) until 1958, when the ministry was broken up and its functions distributed among the forces. The codes were replaced by an alphanumeric (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphanumeric) code system.....

[Finningley Boy]

Many thanks all,

When I first came across these names I thought the AEO was pulling my teenage leg!:ok:

FB:)

[DuncanDoenitz]

Post-Corporate, the Tin Triangle's graceful glide-into-the-sunset coincided with the first programme of enhancement (or should that be conception) to Jaguar's self-defence suite; second hand flare dispensers from the States, ECM and chaff pods, and under-wing AIM-9s. And the PWR?; recovered from the outgoing Vulcans!

Drawback was that the PWR's black-boxes were tuned to the length of cabling between Vulcan's cockpit and fin tip, hence 100 feet of co-ax, winding backwards and forwards in Jaguar's spine fairing.

[Barksdale Boy]

ORAC

See you in a whole new light.

[ORAC]

You may find this of interest. The size outside the airframe is mind boggling. Makes you wonder how, withe weight and size if the ECM kit described above, they had any room left for fuel and bombs.....

Tatjana J. van Vark (http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/dduck0.html)

Navigation and Bombing System NBS
(H2S Mk 9A, Navigation and Bombing Computer NBC)
used in V-bombers Victor, Vulcan and Valiant.

http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/vulc095s.jpg

http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/vrad80b.jpg

[Timelord]

IF IIRC the colours were used for various TYPES of program - eg Blue = Missile, Green = electronics and then the usual "pick-it-off a -list" MoD code name

I don’t think that works. Blue Parrot was the Buccaneer radar. Blue jacket (I think I remember) was the Doppler.

[Barksdale Boy]

Seem to remember Green Satin.

[Fareastdriver]

Green Satin was a steam driven navigation system in the Valiant. It presented a series of clicking numbers over which the Nav Plotter chanted incarnations. The driving force was a series of gyros spinning in all directions inside an airtight container which was within kicking distance of the pilots when they climbed upstairs to the cockpit.

Once seated the LHS pilot had another useless piece of kit called Orange Putter. This was supposed to warn you of aircraft approaching from astern. In all my years of tanking it never picked anything up.

[Shackman]

I believe the Vulcan RWR was also fitted to our Chinooks just before deploying to Akrotiri for ops into Beirut. After an approx 45 min lecture (mostly audio tapes of different WP radars 'believed' to be in Lebanon) about it, I was able to identify and listen to the GunDish radar as fitted to ZSU 23-4 scanning for us on our entry into Beirut and locking on as we exited (below 100ft). Happy Days.

I should add I recognised the Gun Dish thanks to maritime training and nothing to do with the Odiham lecture

[NRU74]

Once seated the LHS pilot had another useless piece of kit called Orange Putter. This was supposed to warn you of aircraft approaching from astern. In all my years of tanking it never picked anything up.

If it did ever lock on to an aircraft astern wasn’t the blip thing supposed to sprout ‘wings’ at one nm range ?
I remember it was tested in the air by firing a Very cartridge full of window/chaff which did show up on the screen !

[ACW418]

Slightly off subject. I cannot remember whether we used Magnetic or True on the MFS Beam Compass in the Vulcan B2. I am fairly sure that the rear crew used True. Can anyone help me out - my OCU notes are somewhere in the loft but it would take a week or two to find them and another week to get the answer.

ACW

[Yellow Sun]

Slightly off subject. I cannot remember whether we used Magnetic or True on the MFS Beam Compass in the Vulcan B2. I am fairly sure that the rear crew used True. Can anyone help me out - my OCU notes are somewhere in the loft but it would take a week or two to find them and another week to get the answer.

ACW

IIRC we used True for en-route navigation by selecting "Remote" on the MFS Selector. Magnetic was used for takeoff, approach and landing as well as for ATC assigned headings but I cannot recall what the switch setting was called, maybe Normal. The other selection on the panel was Bomb. I'm sure there was a bit more to it, but it was a long time ago.

YS

[ZH875]

The updated Jaguar RWR was not from the Vulcan. The main boxes were the same size, except for the indicator which had to be shorter so it's deflection amplifiers were in a separate box.
The Vulcan had ARI 18228/6 the Jaguar gained the ARI 18228/13PD which was a digital version (Skyguardian) and instead of coded lines had a 3 character identifier for idents.
​​​​​Chinook_Puma were updated to Skyguardian as well. The ex Tornado RWET was converted to Skyguardian for Helicopter crew training as was the Free Standing Trainer.
Skyguardian immediately identified by its black screen vice analogue white screen

[ilsfixer]

Blue Jacket was certainly the Doppler, augmented later on by GPIC instead of the Roller Map. GPIC was the Ground Position Indicator Correction unit designed and manufactured by Ferranti Edinburgh

[ACW418]

Thanks YS.

ACW

[XL189]

Green Satin was a doppler radar giving groundspeed & drift angle.
3 dustbins in the Victor "back hatch", antenna just below facing down and an indicator in the cockpit

[radar101]

Blue Parrot was the Buccaneer radar. Blue jacket (I think I remember) was the Doppler.

Did not the "Blue" refer to Maritime? - as in Blue Fox etc

[ORAC]

Did not the "Blue" refer to Maritime?
Read my second link st post #4....

....Looking to avoid making this sort of mistake, Ministry of Supply (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Supply_(United_Kingdom)) (MoS) initiated a system that would be entirely random and deliberately unrelated to the program in any way,[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Code#cite_note-2) while still being easy to remember.

Each rainbow code name was constructed from a randomly selected colour, plus an (often appropriate) noun taken from a list, .....

The names were mostly dropped with the end of the Ministry in 1959....

Rainbow codes, or at least names that look like them without being official, have occasionally been used for some modern systems; current examples include the Orange Reaper Electronic Support Measures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Support_Measures) system and the Blue Vixen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Vixen) radar[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Code#cite_note-4)—the latter most likely so named because it was a replacement for the Blue Fox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferranti_Blue_Fox) radar.....

[Downwind.Maddl-Land]

Not to mention the entirely unofficial 'Blue Eric'- the cobbled together ECM (?) kit shoehorned into an ADEN cannon pod for Harriers engaged on Op CORPORATE.

[wiggy]

Did not the "Blue" refer to Maritime? - as in Blue Fox etc

Given Blue Steel's role I doubt it.

[BEagle]

Neither was Blue Danube. Yellow Sun had nothing to do with EW either.

[ORAC]

Not to mention the entirely unofficial 'Blue Eric'- the cobbled together ECM (?) kit shoehorned into an ADEN cannon pod for Harriers engaged on Op CORPORATE.
And the renowned Tornado ADV “Blue Circle” radar...... :}

[Downwind.Maddl-Land]

And the renowned Tornado ADV “Blue Circle” radar...... :}
Ah! But at least Blue Eric was 'real' - and worked!! (Always loved the heat dispersal method: machine a large lump of copper with lots of fins and stick it in the airflow @ 420 kts +)

[Blacksheep]

I’m pretty sure Orange Putter was named by someone familiar with the Malay language.

[ORAC]

Ah! But at least Blue Eric was 'real'
Blue Circle was as concrete a design as they come....

[RobertP]

Green Satin Canberra PR9 and others, Blue Silk Shackleton Doppler variant , MR3 The MR2 and 3 also had fixtures for Orange Harvest although it was often not installed or functional. Violet Picture also comes to mind but I cannot recall what the system was.
I Thought I had forgotten all this stuff

[RobertP]

I was employed in the Electronics Centre at RAF Finningley 1966 to 1969 approximately and had occasional contact with ECM maintenance and can recollect that it could be a messy task removing the can covers if there had been glycol leaks. I seem to remember a special sump area of the workshop for this activity. The lower members were delegated this task . Rank had privilege!

[MPN11]

And Orange Yeoman ended up keeping people fafe over the UK, at Mil ATCRUs. :ok:

[Yellow Sun]

Violet Picture also comes to mind but I cannot recall what the system was.
I Thought I had forgotten all this stuff

Violet Picture was the PLB (SARBE) homer. Fitted to the Shackleton, Nimrod and I suspect various helicopters as well.

Then there’s Yellow Gate, Nimrod MR2 ESM system.

YS

[Bill Macgillivray]

Orange Putter in some Canberra's. Tail warning? So it was said!

Bill

[NRU74]

I’m pretty sure Orange Putter was named by someone familiar with the Malay language.
I’ll bite!
(Suspect my Malay was limited to Bukit Timah and Bukit Panjang !)
What did Orange P mean in Malay ?

[MAINJAFAD]

And Orange Yeoman ended up keeping people fafe over the UK, at Mil ATCRUs. :ok:

Named after the Yeoman Bus Compony who ran the bus service around Malvern at the time the development of the radar started (for the Army) apparently.

[Herod]

Violet Picture was the PLB (SARBE) homer. Fitted to the Shackleton, Nimrod and I suspect various helicopters as well.

Yep, certainly fitted to the Wessex

[Downwind.Maddl-Land]

Blue Circle was as concrete a design as they come....
"Touchè, Pussycat!" 👍

[Finningley Boy]

Here's my informed contribution, wasn't the new AIR in the See Harrier FRS1 known as Blue Vixen?! Also, did they have another name for the Tonka's Foxhunter? Pink Parrot or something!?:cool:

FB

[RobertP]

Violet Picture was the PLB (SARBE) homer. Fitted to the Shackleton, Nimrod and I suspect various helicopters as well.

Then there’s Yellow Gate, Nimrod MR2 ESM system.

YS
YS Thank you for the reminder re Violet Picture. I now remember it well, including the cross pointer indicator and mainplane antenna systems. I did not have much contact with the Nimrod as after leaving 203 Sqn when it re equipped with the Nimrod I went to Lynham to the C130. Happy days.

[Bing]

Here's my informed contribution, wasn't the new AIR in the See Harrier FRS1 known as Blue Vixen?! Also, did they have another name for the Tonka's Foxhunter? Pink Parrot or something!?:cool:

FB

I think FRS.1's radar was Blue Fox with Blue Vixen being the upgrade for the F/A2.

My understanding is that the random colour/word combination was chosen as during the war the Allies had been able to guess the role of some pieces of German equipment due to the name.

[Fitter2]

My understanding is that the random colour/word combination was chosen as during the war the Allies had been able to guess the role of some pieces of German equipment due to the name.

And when R V Jones visited the USA after WW2 and was shown the Top Secret Sidewinder air-to-air missile prototype, he said 'Ah, infra-red heat seeking'. Asked by the embarrassed hosts 'who told you', he said it's obvious, the sidewinder snake has infra red pits to detect its prey at night.

[air pig]

And when R V Jones visited the USA after WW2 and was shown the Top Secret Sidewinder air-to-air missile prototype, he said 'Ah, infra-red heat seeking'. Asked by the embarrassed hosts 'who told you', he said it's obvious, the sidewinder snake has infra red pits to detect its prey at night.

An amazing man and noted practical joker. He fully appreciated the implications of the Oslo Report unlike many of his superiors. it is said that his lectures at Abderdeen university had far far more atendee's than his noemal students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Victor_Jones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report

His appearances in this series, revalatory the time, when such things as Enigma were being removed from the cloak of secrecy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-War-Complete-Original-1977/dp/B00LN8INSO/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=secret+war&qid=1620322978&s=dvd&sr=1-3

Apologies for thread drift

[air pig]

I think FRS.1's radar was Blue Fox with Blue Vixen being the upgrade for the F/A2.

My understanding is that the random colour/word combination was chosen as during the war the Allies had been able to guess the role of some pieces of German equipment due to the name.

Indeed Knickerbein was the 'Crooked Leg' and then there X and Y Gerat More here. See the RV Jones link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams

[SimWes]

Green Satin was a steam driven navigation system in the Valiant. It presented a series of clicking numbers over which the Nav Plotter chanted incarnations. The driving force was a series of gyros spinning in all directions inside an airtight container which was within kicking distance of the pilots when they climbed upstairs to the cockpit.

Once seated the LHS pilot had another useless piece of kit called Orange Putter. This was supposed to warn you of aircraft approaching from astern. In all my years of tanking it never picked anything up.

Not gyros, but a set of 2 Phonic wheels. Used to fix these in the late 80 when I was at Wyton as used on the Victors based at Marham. Also fixed the Blue Silk variant that was used on the Canberras

[denachtenmai]

Blue Silk variant that was used on the Canberras

Our Canberras had Green Satin, Blue Silk was optimised for low speed and for overwater use in the Shackletons,

[The Oberon]

Our Canberras had Green Satin, Blue Silk was optimised for low speed and for overwater use in the Shackletons,

There were 2 speed ranges for Blue Silk. High speed and low speed, this was achieved by changing jumper settings in the discriminator.
Unlike Green Satin, the antenna was optimised for overwater use as it was initially aimed at carrier based aircraft.
Both GS and BS were fitted to Canberras depending on the mk.
Blue Silk was originally intended to be stowed in a pod with the domed Tx at the front , the "cheeses" saddle mounted behind it and the Antenna directly below.

[ACW599]

I seem to remember reading somewhere about something called 'Astral Box', which sounds to me like something Gwyneth Paltrow would sell on her web site :-) Anyone know what it was?

[Yellow Sun]

I seem to remember reading somewhere about something called 'Astral Box', which sounds to me like something Gwyneth Paltrow would sell on her web site :-) Anyone know what it was?

Nimrod R1

YS

[ORAC]

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/listening-in-raf-electronic-intelligence-gathering-since-1945.21064/

Chapter 13 - Nimrod in Service
covers the career of the Nimrod R.1 up until retirement. Operations in the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia, West Africa and the Falklands. Nimrod upgrades such as Astral Box, Starwindow, Extract, Tigershark and Helix.

[The Oberon]

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/listening-in-raf-electronic-intelligence-gathering-since-1945.21064/
"Looks good" says I, but at £80.00 for a second hand copy it can wait.

[Mr N Nimrod]

I seem to remember reading somewhere about something called 'Astral Box', which sounds to me like something Gwyneth Paltrow would sell on her web site :-) Anyone know what it was?
Yes, and it was very heavy.

[Tankertrashnav]

Electronics? I was a Victor nav radar and was under the impression that those cans (Calc 2 and 3, etc) mainly contained springs and elastic bands.

Ref Green Satin, the OCU ground school at Marham had a Green Satin Janus array aerial set up to demonstrate how it worked. The aerial clanking to and fro once a second was wondrous to behold. Eventually it was replaced by something more up to date (I forget what it was called) which was about the size of a brief case. In my years on the Victor K1 we lost several bits of heavy kit, including the Calc 3, the R88 camera, the multi seat liferaft as well as the afore-mentioned Green Satin, but none of this seemed to make the aircraft any more anxious to get into the air on takeoff!

[ORAC]

"Looks good" says I, but at £80.00 for a second hand copy it can wait.
You can get a copy from Spain for €34.

https://www.aeroteca.com/ca/militar-1946-a-1953/8887-listening-in-raf-electronic-intelligence-gathering-since-1945.html

[The Oberon]

Electronics? I was a Victor nav radar and was under the impression that those cans (Calc 2 and 3, etc) mainly contained springs and elastic bands.

Ref Green Satin, the OCU ground school at Marham had a Green Satin Janus array aerial set up to demonstrate how it worked. The aerial clanking to and fro once a second was wondrous to behold. Eventually it was replaced by something more up to date (I forget what it was called) which was about the size of a brief case. In my years on the Victor K1 we lost several bits of heavy kit, including the Calc 3, the R88 camera, the multi seat liferaft as well as the afore-mentioned Green Satin, but none of this seemed to make the aircraft any more anxious to get into the air on takeoff!

Not quite TTN, Calc3 was the ballistics computer, never worked on K1s but all the ballistics kit was removed on the K2.

Calc1 and 2 formed the Nav. Chain. There was a requirement to amplify D.C. voltages, not easy in those days, so what they did was to feed the input D.C. to the contacts of a relay being driven at 400 Hz. This gave a square wave switching between ref earth and the input DC. This was amplified and then passed to another identical relay which was exactly in synch with the input one. This gave the amplified D.C. as required. Calc1 had the relays and drives, Calc 2 had the amps. It was all clever stuff in those days, there was a Calc5 which consisted of mainly motors, potentiometers and a spring steel tape, this was the really clever one as it performed a Pythagorus calculation mechanically.

Decca 72 replaced Green Grot.

[Yellow Sun]

there was a Calc5 which consisted of mainly motors, potentiometers and a spring steel tape, this was the really clever one as it performed a Pythagorus calculation mechanically.
.

IIRC the metal tape that ran between the two servomotors in the frame in the Calc 5 was made of Manganin. It's remarkable that one remembers such trivia but forgets more important things!

YS

[XL189]

Decca 72 replaced Green Grot.
Sadly not on the Victor K2!
Green Satin was endured right to the bitter end!

[Shackman]

Violet Picture was more a UHF homer, tied into whichever main UHF set we had (from ARC52 to whatever the last one was). Had it on the Shack, Whirlwind and Wessex, (and Sea King?) and very useful for homing to any UHF signal, not just PLB on 243mhz.
As for Blue Silk on the Shackleton - 'Four Miles, Bomb Doors Open, Blue Silk to memory'. The never to be forgotten radar target homing call!

[Pontius Navigator]

You may find this of interest. The size outside the airframe is mind boggling. Makes you wonder how, withe weight and size if the ECM kit described above, they had any room left for fuel and bombs.....

Tatjana J. van Vark (http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/dduck0.html)

Navigation and Bombing System NBS
(H2S Mk 9A, Navigation and Bombing Computer NBC)
used in V-bombers Victor, Vulcan and Valiant.

http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/vulc095s.jpg

http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/tvve/vrad80b.jpg
We were told the NBS was 1,400lbs.

[Pontius Navigator]

Not gyros, but a set of 2 Phonic wheels. Used to fix these in the late 80 when I was at Wyton as used on the Victors based at Marham. Also fixed the Blue Silk variant that was used on the Canberras
Phonic Wheel Velodynes?

[tucumseh]

Blue Fox in SHAR FRS1 was a derivative of Sea Spray in RN Lynx. An oft-asked question was why Sea Spray didn't have a 'Blue' designation. Blue Tit had been mooted, but for some reason not adopted. Some people were quite touchy in those days. In 1986, Director General Aircraft (Navy), an Admiral, jumped on the suggestion that the FRS2 (later FA2) radar trainer be called Sea Harrier Intensive Trainer. The young Lieutenant RN who suggested this was given a career brief on his brief career.

[Firestreak]

The Lightning also carried Violet Picture, selected through the ILS/VP switch. Not sure that it actually worked, never tried it myself and never heard it discussed.

[Dan Winterland]

The Rainbow codes seem random, because largely they were, and by design. In WW2, the allies correctly guessed the function of some of the German kit purely by it's name. For example, it was correctly assumed that the Wotan (Odin) nav system had one transmitter as the mythical god only had one eye. There was a concerted effort to make sure the same mistakes weren't made.

[Friedlander]

We had a piece of ESM kit in the old R30 (Temporary Ops Room) at Neatishead, I think it was supposed to be from a Vulcan.

If memory serves, it was referred to as DIALECT ... I never heard it called by a Rainbow Code, but as an FC who had passed the controller training, I was never invited to use it, Does anyone remeber what it was? ORAC?:

Probably still here:https://www.radarmuseum.co.uk/
Which is well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Friedlander

[The Oberon]

We had a piece of ESM kit in the old R30 (Temporary Ops Room) at Neatishead, I think it was supposed to be from a Vulcan.

If memory serves, it was referred to as DIALECT ... I never heard it called by a Rainbow Code, but as an FC who had passed the controller training, I was never invited to use it, Does anyone remeber what it was? ORAC?:

Probably still here:https://www.radarmuseum.co.uk/
Which is well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Friedlander

I could be wrong here as I was radar and ESM was looked after by the comms. guys, but the only Vulcan ESM that I remember was Blue Saga which monitored L band and X band. This was replaced by ARI 18228.

[Ewan Whosearmy]

The Lightning also carried Violet Picture, selected through the ILS/VP switch. Not sure that it actually worked, never tried it myself and never heard it discussed.

What was it supposed to do, Firestreak?

[PEI_3721]

Lightning days - radar AI 23, no name ?

Missiles: Firestreak was a generic trade name, Mk3 as used, was Blue Jay.
The development Firestreak Mk4 became Red Top.

Other developments included Blue Vesta which was possibly a Radar version of Red Top, also considered were variants of early Sparrow, Matra R530, or Sidewinder on outboard pylons.
Plus thoughts of 2in rockets over-wing; SNEB, Bullpup, AS 30, Falcon, Zuni, 1000lb bomb, ventral fairing / underwing.

Predecessors, Blue Sky (Fire-flash ?), Red Dean, Red Hebe.

Re radar homing: was the Lightning ‘S’ band homer a separate (un-named) system or integral with AI 23B ?
What was the V Force S band jammer called; reportedly wartime use only.

[ORAC]

Friedland- I have a vague memory it was the Orange Harvest stripped out of the 8 Sqn Shacks.

[ORAC]

The Lightning also carried Violet Picture, selected through the ILS/VP switch. Not sure that it actually worked, never tried it myself and never heard it discussed.
It was used for UHF homing on spoofers and comms jammers. If the pilot called “bloodhound” then the controller was supposed to shut up to allow the pilot to identify and ride the jamming/spoofing radial..

[Firestreak]

Ewan, simply gave a turn left or right indication using ILS localiser needle, when centered pointing towards the transmitter. The info came from the 2 small vertical aerials on the spine of the aircraft.

[The Oberon]

What was the V Force S band jammer called; reportedly wartime use only.

Red Shrimp.

[pmills575]

Most of the ECM cans took some time to become operational, known as "warm up time", the power switch had an alternate position which had a plastic guard that could be broken if enough force was used. This was marked as the war switch, it truncated the time the unit took to become operational. Bomber wing at Akrotiri received a panic call wanting to know if we had a problem with any aircrafts ECM. Apparently the VHF comms channels were all being jammed. A quick run around all of the airframes that had power on discovered a Green Salad???? unit (VHF Jammer) with the war switch on and the plastic guard broken. The panic was that it effectively wiped out VHF comms in the easterm Med including most of Israel, who were about to bring all of their forces to the highest alert level fearing an imminent attack. Akrotiri was only 90 miles from the Golan heights. We never found out how it, or who, managed to operate the war switch.

[The Oberon]

Most of the ECM cans took some time to become operational, known as "warm up time", the power switch had an alternate position which had a platic guard that could be broken if enough force was used. This was marked as the war switch, it truncated the time the unit took to become operational. Bomber wing at Akrotiri received a panic call wanting to know if we had a problem with any aircrafts ECM. Apparently the VHF comms channels were all being jammed. A quick run around all of the airframes that had power on discovered a Green Salad???? unit (VHF Jammer) with the war switch on and the plastic guard broken. The panic was that it effectively wiped out VHF comms in the easterm Med including most of Israel, who were about to bring all of their forces to the highest alert level fearing an imminent attack. Akrotiri was only 90 miles from the Golan heights. We never found out how it, or who, managed to operate the war switch.

There was an early VHF jammer called Green Palm replaced by ARI 18146.

[ZH875]

Friedland- I have a vague memory it was the Orange Harvest stripped out of the 8 Sqn Shacks.
I have only come across DIALECT at EWOSE, I can't remember but I think it was based on ARI 18228 RWR, as that was the main area I worked in.

[ORAC]

I have only come across DIALECT at EWOSE, I can't remember but I think it was based on ARI 18228 RWR, as that was the main area I worked in.
You would seem to be correct, the mention I have found of DIALECT from the Neatishead Air Defence Museum defines it as the “Dialect ARI 18228 EW system.”

[Ewan Whosearmy]

Thanks, ORAC and Firestreak.

[ORAC]

Ewan,

Ill add that we had one at Buchan in the early 1980s, left hand side off the well, and it was bloody useless. Can’t remember it ever providing any useful intel, and hence the lack of interest…..

[Brewster Buffalo]

You would seem to be correct, the mention I have found of DIALECT from the Neatishead Air Defence Museum defines it as the “Dialect ARI 18228 EW system.”

My reference book mentions a system used to counter Soviet jamming codenamed "Winkle". Introduced between 1965 and 1968 it consisted of a high speed rotating aerial and was installed at four sites. It was worked together with a Type 85 radar to establish the position of the jamming source.

[ORAC]

My reference book mentions a system used to counter Soviet jamming codenamed "Winkle". Introduced between 1965 and 1968 it consisted of a high speed rotating aerial and was installed at four sites. It was worked together with a Type 85 radar to establish the position of the jamming source.
That was the Passive Detection System installed along with the T85 radar at Boulmer, Staxton Wold and Neatishead.

To this day I can recall the details of hyperbolic lays….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linesman/Mediator#Passive_detection

https://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/linesman/pd.htm