The TPS-1 is a lightweight portable search radar using a cut-down parabolic antenna of the "orange peel" design with an off-axis feed and transmitting in the L-band between 1220 and 1280 megahertz (MHz).

The initial versions were designed to break down into ten packages and then be assembled on-site, but a number of adaptations to large trucks and even school bus frames were made over the years.

Versions B through G differed primarily in the antenna pattern, providing better vertical range, but were electrically identical.

TPS-1s were used to defend many beach-heads in the Pacific during the war and were among the first portable radar units to go into operation following the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency