The Shackleton's radar was the AN/APS-20E, because it was the same sets that had been fitted to RN Gannets and was stripped out after they were withdrawn from service.
Can anyone ID this aircraft?
- Thread starter adeptitus
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Thank you Obi Wan, but I must take issue. The AN/APS-20E, otherwise known as project Cadillac II, was an E-Band radar operating in the sub-band 2.88~2.96GHz. It was manufactured by General Electric and installed in E-1B Tracer airframes. The AN/APS-20F was a GEC-Marconi Avionics upgraded copy made under license and installed in RN Gannets. The Shackletons, affectionately known as Shackle bombers had the ASV21 series manufactured by Thorn-EMI, which functioned in I-Band between 8.8~9.4 GHz. The last country to use the Shackleton / ASV 21 combination was South Africa long after the RAF had introduced the early Nimrod Mk 1 with the ASV 21D series, produced by Sonic, which replaced the Shackleton.
Jacey
Jacey
The Shackleton MR2 had the ASV 21 radar, the Shackleton AEW2 (12 MR2 conversions) were fitted with redundant AN/APS-20F sets from scrapped RN Gannets.
Thank you, Obi Wan, lesson learned. I have spent some time chasing up your point which I concede is absolutely correct. But I must add that during considerable operational sea time between 1956 and 1984 I only ever saw Shackle bombers using ASV21, because from an EW viewpoint we always had difficulty identifying the difference between the Shackletons and the early Nimrods with their H2S Mk9, which operated in the same sub-band as the ASV21 with very similar parameters.