Academician Mao Erke: History of the development of military radar and the development direction of new radar systems

　　On April 20, 2017, the U.S. Congress approved the design of the new LRDR land-based anti-missile early warning radar. This is the most advanced anti-missile radar in the United States after the AN/TPY-2 radar, the "Eye of THAAD". It will become an important foundation for the U.S. land-based mid-course anti-missile system. It is reported that the LRDR radar will be a phased array radar developed based on gallium nitride component technology. For this reason, "Weapon Knowledge" interviewed Academician Mao Erke on the advancement of phased array radars and the development of domestic radars such as KJ-500.

　　Introduction

　　Mao Erke is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an expert in radar systems and radar signal processing. He graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology (now Beijing Institute of Technology) in 1956. He is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Institute of Technology. He has made significant scientific research achievements in radar clutter suppression and new radar systems, and has made significant contributions to my country's moving target display and moving target detection technology. He has won 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 2 third prizes, and 1 fourth prize in the National Technological Invention Award; he has received special government allowances, Beijing Outstanding Teacher Award, and Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Progress Award; the team he led has won honors such as "Outstanding Science and Technology Innovation Team of National Defense Science and Technology Industry" and "National Advanced Collective of the Education System".

　　1. Military Sensors

　　(Reporter, hereinafter referred to as "Reporter"): Academician Mao, you are a famous expert in the field of radar in my country. Please tell us about the important role of radar in war.

　　Mao Erke

　　To win a war, you must know both yourself and the enemy. Radar, as a full-time and space sensor, is one of the indispensable means of intelligence reconnaissance, and can understand the enemy's situation under very adverse conditions. Radar is indispensable regardless of land, sea or air. Radar was first used in the military.

　　"Radar was a magic weapon that defeated fascism during World War II." This is Churchill's evaluation of radar, summarizing the important role of radar in World War II. The radar technology of the Allies was superior to that of Germany and Japan, and played an indispensable role in winning the war. For example, in the early days of World War II, the United States did not have an advantage in the Pacific battlefield, but with advanced radar technology, it was able to detect the enemy first and take measures before the enemy, gaining the upper hand in many battles, such as the confrontation between aircraft carriers.

　　Radar also played an important role in reversing Britain's passive combat situation. During the Battle of Britain, Britain deployed radar in the English Channel, which was able to detect incoming German aircraft early. In addition, in order to defend against German U-boats attacking British merchant ships in the Atlantic battlefield, most aircraft and surface ships were equipped with radar, which could search for German submarines that surfaced at night to charge, allowing Allied aircraft to attack German submarines over a large range. German submarines were severely damaged and had to withdraw from the Atlantic, resulting in the failure of Germany's strategy of destroying British maritime transportation to force Britain to surrender.

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　　The Chain Home early warning radar is the earliest military radar and played a huge role in the defense of the British mainland during the famous Battle of Britain. The left picture shows the radar tower and the right picture shows the transmitter.

　　The high-performance H2S terrain scanning radar became standard equipment for British and American bombers in the late World War II. Note the "bulge" on the belly of this "Lancaster" bomber.

　　It can be said that the role of radar in war was most fully demonstrated in World War II, which played a great role in promoting the progress and final outcome of World War II. In addition to World War II, Israel was able to take the initiative in many wars, which was inseparable from the fact that Israel was equipped with a full range of radar models.

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　　In the 1990s, the Radar Institute broke through the traditional signal processing field, proposed an innovative system for a special purpose measurement radar, and developed a prototype (this research won the first prize of the National Invention Award in 2014). The picture shows Professor Mao Erke in front of the antenna and signal processing equipment of the prototype.

　　In the early 1980s, a certain aerospace unit led the development of China's first millimeter-wave seeker, and the Radar Institute was responsible for the signal processing subsystem. The picture shows Mao Erke on a business trip to Yi County, Hebei Province, to participate in the airborne test of the system.

　　2. History of the development of Chinese military radar

　　Reporter: You have devoted your life to the development of my country's radar industry. Please talk about the growth history of my country's radar industry from your perspective.

　　Mao Erke

　　In 1951, I was admitted to the Institute of Technology of North China University (later renamed Beijing Institute of Technology/Beijing Institute of Technology). In 1953, I started studying radar and never left the field of radar. I will talk about the development of my country's radar industry from my personal perspective.

　　my country's military radar industry started before liberation. The Kuomintang government at that time established a radar repair shop in Nanjing, and the United States provided it with some equipment and parts. When Nanjing was about to be liberated, the Kuomintang government moved the radar repair shop to Hangzhou, hoping to bring these talents to Taiwan, but these talents eventually chose to stay and returned to Nanjing after liberation. Therefore, Nanjing can be said to be the starting point of the development of my country's radar industry. The radar repair shop is also the predecessor of the 14th Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the 14th Institute).

　　After that, the technical team engaged in the radar industry in my country continued to grow. In the 1950s, my country's radar industry embarked on the road of independent development. The independently developed radar was used in the Korean War. The 14th Institute also grew into the largest radar research institute in China, making significant contributions to my country's radar industry that are obvious to all. Several major state-owned radar manufacturers in my country have the genes of the 14th Institute.

　　In terms of colleges and universities, in 1952, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Communications Engineering College (now Xidian University) located in Zhangjiakou City opened a radar major, becoming the first military college in my country to establish a radar major.

　　In 1953, our school (now Beijing Institute of Technology) established the radar major with the assistance of Soviet experts, becoming the first local college to establish a radar major. In 1954, our first batch of radar students went to the 14th Institute for production internship and saw some radars left over from the United States that were still usable. This was the first time I saw a real radar. After graduation in 1956, I stayed at the school to teach and conduct research in the radar major. Since then, our school's radar major has often had business cooperation with the 14th Institute in Nanjing, and has invited Academician Zhang Zhizhong to give short-term lectures at the school many times.

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　　The birthplace of China's radar industry - the 14th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation

　　Beijing Institute of Technology, the predecessor of Beijing Institute of Technology

　　Between 1958 and 1959, the state specially allocated three sets of large radars imported from the Soviet Union to our school, the specific models are the P20 radar, the Son 9, and the Son 4 radar. The P20 radar is a search radar, consisting of 7 trucks, including a power truck, an antenna truck, etc. Along with the three radars, a large truck of radar parts left over from the United States was also transported. After these radar equipment were transported, the teachers and students of the radar major overcame various difficulties to explore the assembly, operation, and improvement of the radars, and also equipped some small parts such as unloaded and airborne radars that were not complete, and powered them up for experiments. The establishment and growth of our school's radar major is inseparable from the assistance of Soviet experts, the support of the state, and the mutual support of brother institutions. Compared with the radar majors of other local colleges and universities that were built later, our school's radar major has a distinct national defense feature since its birth, and has the gene to solve major engineering problems for national defense construction.

　　In 1964, many foreign countries began to study phased array radars in full swing. The National Defense Science and Technology Commission also asked our school and the 14th Institute to propose a large-scale phased array early warning radar solution that could detect targets thousands of kilometers away. At that time, we were not very clear about the principles of phased array radars and had no experience in making large equipment, so Nanjing 14th Institute sent 10 technical backbones to participate in the research and development. These technical backbones included Zhang Guangyi and Ben De, who had just returned from Russia and are now academicians. Our school was mainly responsible for proposing solutions and doing some principle verification experiments. At this time, the Cultural Revolution began, and the research and development of phased array radars in our school was basically interrupted, and most of the work was completed by the 14th Institute.