Radar tower

A radar tower is a tower whose function is to support a radar facility, usually a local airport surveillance radar, and hence often at or in the vicinity of an airport or a military air base. In addition, radar towers are used for the installation and operation of search and height finder radars at military radar stations where the mission is to support air defense missions. These missions were characterized as Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) or Long Range Surveillance in support of the Semi-automatic Ground Environment (SAGE).Tower with en route radar at Neunkircher Höhe in the OdenwaldRadar tower for monitoring shipping on the South Elbe river opposite the Altenwerder Container Terminal, HamburgThe Former Weesow radar tower in Werneuchenradar station on a mountain in France A radar tower is a tower whose function is to support a radar facility, usually a local airport surveillance radar, and hence often at or in the vicinity of an airport or a military air base. In addition, radar towers are used for the installation and operation of search and height finder radars at military radar stations where the mission is to support air defense missions. These missions were characterized as Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) or Long Range Surveillance in support of the Semi-automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). The tower typically has a continuously rotating parabolic antenna. Often the antenna is protected from the weather by a radome and is thus not visible from the outside. For regional air traffic control, en route radar installations are used; for example there are six of these in Germany, erected at selected sites. The data from these radars is fed into the civilian RADNET system and transferred to all civil and military control centres. Ideally a radar tower is built on a high spot in the terrain, because this reduces the angle of elevation and thus increases the range of the radar device. In the absence of a suitable high spot, radar towers are used. Radar towers are also need to provide weather protection and services (air conditioning and power) for the radar equipment, communications, operators and maintainers In Germany the operational command posts of the German Air Force use the Bundeswehr radar towers for the stationary radar sites of the operational command areas.