A tethered aircraft is suggested as a way to carry Type 83 radar sensors higher above the sea. The objection concerns how the concept would operate above a moving ship. At roughly 150 feet, the aircraft would face difficult winds and weather close to the ship, while a missile launch would introduce hot exhaust nearby. Raising it to about a mile introduces a different problem: maintaining station and managing the cable above a ship moving at a notional 28 knots. Extra sensor height is attractive, but this installation's practical operation remains unresolved.
Notable Point · 22:24-24:05
A tethered radar must work above a moving warship
The Type 83's mooted tethered-drone radar shows how gaining sensor height creates difficult aviation, cable, weather, and station-keeping problems.