Chain Home
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Chain Home was a coastal early-warning radar network built by the British Royal Air Force before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Entering full-time operation in 1938, it could detect German formations assembling over France and gave RAF commanders time to marshal fighters for interception, reshaping the operational conditions of the Battle of Britain.
In depth
Operation and significance
Initially known as RDF, the system received the official designation Air Ministry Experimental Station Type 1 (AMES Type 1) in 1940. Early stations covering the approaches to London were installed in 1937, and the network was linked to fighter command through the information-distribution system known as the Dowding system. It expanded to more than 40 stations by the end of the war, and some of its infrastructure was incorporated into the Cold War ROTOR system.
Technology and command
Chain Home used the timing of reflected radio pulses to estimate range and direction. Its tall antenna arrays, combined with ground observation and command networks, allowed the defenders to respond before attacking formations reached their targets. It therefore operated not simply as radar equipment but as an organisational system integrating detection, information distribution, and fighter control.