Required radar ranges for AEW aircraft

In designing an airborne early warning system to warn of incoming air raids, one should match the radar range to the velocity of the incoming raid, the reaction time of one's interceptors, and the capacity of the airborne early warning system to flee to safety. This paper, through the application of simple analytical models, investigates the minimum radar ranges necessary to permit interdiction of the raid as well as escape to safety of the airborne early warning system. These radar ranges are dependent on characteristics of all the aircraft in the scenario. The results of many calculations are presented, showing the sensitivity of radar range to selected parameters.