Helicopters accelerate airborne radar experiments

Centimetric radar still depends on its own scientific timeline, but helicopters make experimental airborne sets easier to install, observe, and recover than many fixed-wing alternatives. A test aircraft could rise close to the scientists and engineers, switch on a surface-search or warning set, and report results without needing a distant airfield circuit. Its comparatively roomy enclosed cabin offers space for equipment and protects people and electronics from weather. That does not create mature airborne early warning before the radar itself exists. It does, however, provide a practical naval test platform and could encourage better canopies and weather protection in contemporary fixed-wing aircraft as well.