Cymbeline (radar)

Developed by Thorn-EMI and built at their now-defunct site at Hayes in Middlesex, it was in British service from 1975 until about 2003 with the Royal Artillery.

The basic Cymbeline was a single unit on a turntable stand with four adjustable legs for levelling.

Data memory was also available, although in British service this was normally only fitted to Cymbeline Mk 2; in essence it recorded the detected mortar bomb signal and allowed it to be replayed.

Secondary roles were area and coastal surveillance, helicopter and light aircraft control, meteor balloon tracking and rapid survey.

The radar includes an integral simulator for operator training and practice and built-in test functionality.

Prototypes used hydraulic supports to level the radar but the production version used mercury in the same manner as Green Archer Mk 2 had.

In British service from 1975[2] until 2003, the radars were used in the Falkland Islands in 1982,[3][4] the Gulf War in 1991 and in the Balkans, where 5 Cymbelines were deployed to Sarajevo in 1994/5 as part of the BRITFOR contribution to UNPROFOR, to locate 'heavy weapons' violations.

Radars were only switched on in response to reports of hostile mortar fire, and so thereby avoiding continuous transmission in order to minimise the risk of detection.

[10] These were such a disruption to the Vietnamese that in 1984 a special forces operation at the Battle of Laoshan was organised to destroy one of them.

[12] There was also larger version code-named Cervantes developed by RSRE and Thorn-EMI, intended for use by the British Army.

It made use of modern electronics, had a larger antenna, far greater range and some capability to locate guns and rocket launchers; however, the development effort was eventually abandoned in 1986 in favour of the multi-national COBRA(radar), as part of a general hiatus in defence procurement under Heseltine.