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Better RWR tones this time?


Beamscanner

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The F-4's RWR is an iconic device that presented raw radar audio to the pilot.

 

Heatblur is probably the best simulation developer I know of. However, I found their previous attempt at raw RWR audio in the DCS Viggen lacking in fidelity. 

 

I made a mock up scenario to illustrate what the F-4 pilot would of heard during an SA-2 detect to engage sequence. Though I've shortened it down to save time. I made these tones in audacity. 

SA-2 search to track sequence.png

 

 

 

Great video on these early RWRs: 

RWR.png

 

 

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On 2/17/2022 at 12:41 PM, Beamscanner said:

The F-4's RWR is an iconic device that presented raw radar audio to the pilot.

 

Heatblur is probably the best simulation developer I know of. However, I found their previous attempt at raw RWR audio in the DCS Viggen lacking in fidelity. 

 

I made a mock up scenario to illustrate what the F-4 pilot would of heard during an SA-2 detect to engage sequence. Though I've shortened it down to save time. I made these tones in audacity. 

SA-2 search to track sequence.png

 

 

 

Great video on these early RWRs: 

RWR.png

 

 

This is pretty hype - I wonder if theoretically, a good ear can determine the type of radar and its mode based on the audio alone. Real cool stuff!

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I was a submarine sonar tech in the US Navy, and the submarines have a device called an AN/WLR-9 that functions almost identically to this type of RWR display, but you don't get raw audio, only digital beeps and boops depending on the threat type. However, we always had headsets on and therefore heard the raw audio if we happened to be listening in the direction of the transmission and the source level was high enough to hear. I can assure you that radars are like sonar and therefore many systems have unique pulse patterns that are easy to distinguish, even if the frequency range is similar. Some systems are designed not to be heard at all, which gives them very unique signatures if you do happen to hear them. What really helps is that Soviet and NATO systems often used different approaches to solve the same radar search/track problem, so even if you can't make out which particular system it is, it will be distinctive from allied radars operating in the same band.

In the time frame of the F-4, there weren't that many threats and they tended to operate in unique frequency bands and different pulse repetition frequencies depending on the radar's intended application. The PRF is what you really hear in the above audio, particularly when it shifts from pulsing to continuous wave.


Edited by streakeagle
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23 hours ago, streakeagle said:

I was a submarine sonar tech in the US Navy, and the submarines have a device called an AN/WLR-9 that functions almost identically to this type of RWR display, but you don't get raw audio, only digital beeps and boops depending on the threat type. However, we always had headsets on and therefore heard the raw audio if we happened to be listening in the direction of the transmission and the source level was high enough to hear. I can assure you that radars are like sonar and therefore many systems have unique pulse patterns that are easy to distinguish, even if the frequency range is similar. Some systems are designed not to be heard at all, which gives them very unique signatures if you do happen to hear them. What really helps is that Soviet and NATO systems often used different approaches to solve the same radar search/track problem, so even if you can't make out which particular system it is, it will be distinctive from allied radars operating in the same band.

In the time frame of the F-4, there weren't that many threats and they tended to operate in unique frequency bands and different pulse repetition frequencies depending on the radar's intended application. The PRF is what you really hear in the above audio, particularly when it shifts from pulsing to continuous wave.

 

That's what I thought. What great insight! 

On a similar note, I remember reading the Israelis had trouble detecting SA-6 CW launch warnings for the first few days of the Yom Kippur War. I had thought that as long as the carrier frequency is within the detecting bandwidth of the RWR, you'd hear it. Perhaps the SA-6 used some kind of chirping that made the APR-36 unable to detect it? 

Were you able to hear weird FM modulations with your experience? 

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