 LW/AW Mark 1A, with IFF antennas on top | |
| Country of origin | Australia |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1942 |
| No. built | about 250[a] |
| Type | early warning |
| Frequency | 200 MHz |
| PRF | 50 pps |
| Pulsewidth | 10 µS |
| RPM | manual rotation |
| Range | over 100 mi (160 km) |
| Azimuth | 360º |
| Power | 10 kW Mk. I, 160 to 200 kW Mark III |
| Other Names | LW/AW, A286Q |
The Light Weight Air Warning Radar, or LW/AW was a portable early warning radar produced in Australia during the Second World War. It was designed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, today's CSIRO, to provide field troops with air attack warning in the northern Australia and New Guinea theatres.
From 1940, CSIR had been designing a large system known as Air Warning, Mark I (AW.1) for fixed emplacements, similar in concept to the UK's Chain Home. The first Japanese air attacks on Darwin were carried out before it was in place, and it was some time before this larger unit could be put into action. This led to a December 1941 request for a smaller version that could be held in reserve and the moved into location if the AW system was attacked. Shortly thereafter, field units requested a portable system that could be quickly delivered to forward airfields. Work at CSIR began in the summer of 1942.
The LW/AW emerged as a system designed to be carried in rough conditions and small and light enough to fit in the Douglas DC-2 and Douglas Dakota. Otherwise similar to the AW, a new antenna design based on the UK's Chain Home Low provided the desired range in a robust multi-unit array that could be easily assembled in the field. The prototype entered testing in September 1942, and the first two production models were moved to New Guinea in mid-October and entered full operation on 8 November. The Mark I and slightly modified Mark IA served until the end of the war with about 260 produced.
The Mark II had a larger cabin and modified antenna to support IFF Mark III but was otherwise similar. Mark III, was introduced in 1944, but the earlier versions were so successful it was not put into production. A modification of the Mk. III was used on ships as the A286Q and about 120 were produced.
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