Ferranti Blue Fox facts for kids
A British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS1, showing the black radome for the nose-mounted Blue Fox radar antenna.
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1979 |
| Type | Airborne radar |
| Frequency | I-band |
The Ferranti Blue Fox was a special type of airborne radar system. It was made in Britain for the Royal Navy by a company called Ferranti Defence Systems in the late 1970s.
This radar had some ups and downs while it was being used. Later, it was replaced by a newer and better radar called the Blue Vixen.
Contents
What is the Blue Fox Radar?
The Blue Fox radar was created for the British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.1 jet. A radar helps pilots "see" things far away, even in bad weather or darkness.
How Was it Designed?
The main job of the Blue Fox was to find large aircraft, like spy planes or bombers, flying over the sea. It also helped find ships on the water for attack missions.
Engineers had to design it to be small, quick to build, and not too expensive. Ferranti used parts from another radar, the Ferranti Seaspray, which was used on helicopters to find ships.
The Blue Fox was a "frequency agile" radar, meaning it could quickly change its radio frequency. It weighed less than 85 kilograms, which is about the same as a small motorbike.
Training Pilots
To help pilots learn how to use the Blue Fox, three special Hawker Hunter training jets were fitted with these radars. These planes were called Hunter T.8M.
Blue Fox in Action
The Blue Fox radar started being used by the Fleet Air Arm (the Royal Navy's air force) in July 1981. The first squadron to use it was 801 Naval Air Squadron.
The Falklands War
In April 1982, the Falkland Islands were invaded. The British Government sent a naval task force, including two aircraft carriers with Sea Harrier jets.
Two squadrons, 801 and 800, used the Blue Fox radar during this conflict. At first, some pilots found the radar difficult to use. However, a Ferranti engineer helped fix some issues with the radars.
Even with some challenges, the Blue Fox radar helped in the war. Four Argentinian aircraft were shot down using information from the Blue Fox.
The radar was good at finding ships. It could spot a warship as far as 100 nautical miles (190 km) away in calm seas. For example, on May 2, a Sea Harrier used its Blue Fox radar to find the Argentinian aircraft carrier group.
Upgrades and Replacements
From 1989, the Royal Navy started replacing the Blue Fox radar. The newer Sea Harrier FA2 jets received the much better Blue Vixen radar. Older FRS1 jets were updated to this new standard.
Use by India
The Indian Navy also bought Sea Harrier jets. For their second group of jets, delivered in 1989, they wanted a better radar. However, the Blue Vixen wasn't ready for export yet. So, they also received the Blue Fox.
Later, the Indian Sea Harriers were upgraded. Their Blue Fox radars were replaced with a different radar from Israel, called the Elta EL/M-2032.
Who Used Blue Fox?
See also
- Blue Vixen
