IIRC the RN Signal School at Portsmouth proposed a 50 centimetre radar in 1931, but AFAIK work didn't begin until 1936, a year after the "Daventry Experiment."
If the above is correct would it be feasible to have British naval radars entering service 2-3 years earlier than OTL with a POD of 1931?
Although that is 5 years ahead of OTL development is likely to be at a slower pace in the period 1931-36 due to finance, a more peaceful world and longer service trails because there was no need to rush new equipment into service before it was properly tested.
Would the British Army have adopted the Admiralty's 50cm radar for Anti-Aircraft Command instead of the 5 metre Gun Laying (GL) and 1.5 metre Search Light Control (SLC) sets?
According to the
www.anti-aircraft.co.uk website...
- 410 GL Mk 1 sets were delivered August 1939 to April 1941
- 1,679 GL Mk 2 sets were delivered June 1940 to August 1943
- 100 SLC sets were delivered September 1940 to February 1941
- 8,796 SLC sets were delivered April 1941 to December 1943
Would the performance of AA Command in the Battle of Britain and Blitz have been significantly improved?
Also with the significantly earlier start on radar development would it be possible to bring the deliveries forward by one year? E.g. 410 GL Mk 1 sets (50cm) delivered August 1938 to April 1940 instead of 410 GL Mk I sets (5 metre) delivered August 1939 to April 1941.
The RAF's Airborne Interception (AI) radars Mks I to IV used the 1.5 metre wavelength. Would they have been significantly better if they had used the 50 cm wavelength? Also with the earlier start on radar development would AI radar and its associated network of Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) stations have come into service a year or two earlier?