The American Big Blue Blanket is a useful late-war example, although it grew from earlier systems. British fighter-direction work had begun before the war and developed as radar sets, communications, and operational experience changed. Dedicated radio channels and a fighter-direction office turned scattered radar and visual reports into instructions a combat air patrol could use. The lesson is institutional as well as technical: a carrier force needs trained people and a communications system that can turn sightings into timely interceptions.
Chapter · 8:18-13:00
Fighter direction before the Big Blue Blanket
The postwar jet transition began with a wartime air-defence system: radar, fighter direction, and combat air patrols working as a coordinated screen.