Type 281 radar

---

title: "Type 281 radar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["world-war-ii-british-electronics", "naval-radars", "world-war-ii-radars", "royal-navy-radar"] description: "British naval early-warning radar developed during World War II" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_281_radar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British naval early-warning radar developed during World War II ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radar"]

Field	Value
name	Type 281
country	United Kingdom
introdate	1940
number	59
type	Early-warning radar
frequency	86–94 MHz
PRF	50 per second
beamwidth	35° (horizontal)
pulsewidth	2–3 μs or 15 μs
range	115 nmi
altitude	30000 ft
diameter
azimuth
elevation
precision
power	350 kW–1 MW
::

|name = Type 281 |image = |caption = |country = United Kingdom |introdate = 1940 |number = 59 |type = Early-warning radar |frequency =86–94 MHz |PRF = 50 per second |beamwidth = 35° (horizontal) |pulsewidth= 2–3 μs or 15 μs |RPM = |range = 115 nmi |altitude = 30000 ft |diameter =
|azimuth =
|elevation =
|precision =
|power = 350 kW–1 MW |other names= ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A24895.jpg" caption="6}} at Scapa Flow."] ::

The Type 281 radar was a British naval early-warning radar developed during World War II. It replaced the Type 79 as the Royal Navy's main early-warning radar during the war.

The prototype system was mounted on the light cruiser in October 1940. This radar used a frequency of 90 MHz, a beamwidth of 35°, and a wavelength of 3.5 m. It required separate transmitting and receiving antennas that were rotated by hand. For long-range warning the radar used a 15 microsecond pulse at a power level of 350 kW that gave a detection range up to 110 nmi for aircraft. For tracking surface targets it used a 2–3 microsecond pulse at 1 MW that gave a range up to 12 nmi. A second set was installed in January 1941 aboard the battleship and production began of another 57 sets, with the first ones delivered the following month. This set also had a secondary aerial and surface gunnery capability, and used a Precision Ranging Panel. The Type 281 ranging system allowed the user to select either a 2000 yd to 14000 yd or a 2000 yd to 25000 yd range display with range accuracies of 50 yd or 75 yd RMS, respectively. Aerial target ranges were passed directly to the HACS table (fire control computer).

Type 281B consolidated the transmission and receiving antennas, and the Type 281BP radar had the short-pulse feature removed. It was fitted with improved receivers that increased the maximum detection range for an aircraft at 20000 ft to 120 nmi. At lower altitudes, ranges declined to 90 nmi at 10000 ft and 65 nmi at 5000 ft. The Type 281BQ was a Type 281BP fitted with power rotation, at 2 or 4 rpm, and equipped with a plan position indicator. After the end of the war the Type 281 was replaced by the Type 960 radar.

Notes

Bibliography

References

1. Swords, p. 88
2. Mitchell, pp. 8–10
3. Swords, p. 88
4. Pout, pp. 13–16.
5. Friedman, p. 194

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::