Luftwaffe radio equipment of World War II
During World War II, the German Luftwaffe relied on an increasingly diverse array of electronic communications, IFF and RDF equipment as avionics in its aircraft and also on the ground.
It operated in the 600 to 1667 kHz range (generally the entire American AM radio broadcast band) at a power of 20 to 100 watts, depending on installation.
The FuG 10P replaced the standard E 10L longwave receiver with an EZ6 unit for a G6 direction finding set.
The FuG 10ZY incorporated a fixed loop D/F aerial and a homing device for navigation to a ground station.
This loop aerial, usually fitted on a small, "teardrop" shaped mounting, was standard equipment on most fighter aircraft from late 1943 on.
Improvements in the FuG 10 family resulted in no need for this additional radio and it was withdrawn from service.
The FuG 16ZY was also used for Y-Verfahren (Y-Control), in which aircraft were fitted up as Leitjäger or Fighter Formation Leaders that could be tracked and directed from the ground via special R/T equipment.
This matched the ground forces FuG 7 radio fitted to command tanks and reconnaissance units.
FuG 29: Development unit designed to work as receiver for the running commentary,- "Laufende Reportage" - that was transmitted from radio navigation stations to aid the day- and night- fighters participating in the defense of the Reich.
When in 1944 the existing radio navigation systems were either being jammed or under physical attack the design was revisited.
Ground units were BS 15 navigation radio beacons constructed from rebuilt FuG 15 sets.
The FuG 120 "Bernhardine" was the airborne Hellschreiber system that prints the data stream from the selected Bernhard station.
The system seems to have only deployed in small numbers as bomber operations were ceasing due to the air forces concentration just on fighters and CAS.
A variant called FuG162k was produced for single seat fighter (reduced accuracy +- 500 meters) operation but it seems never to have been used.
For more information see the main page Battle of the Beams Knickebein: Development started on this system in 1934 based on work done by Lorenz.
Its consisted or a rapidly rotating beam (electronic not mechanical) transmitting at 3 kW and at frequencies between 5 and 12 MHz.
The signals were picked up using a FuG10K receiver and processed by the FuG 124 Komet processor which printed the results out on a paper strip.
It was discovered that it would be easy to jam and as it was now 1944 with German forces falling back on all fronts there was no longer a requirement for it.
On smaller aircraft there was not enough space and German industry was by now having trouble supplying enough radios to the air force without adding 4 more receivers per plane.
Some sources indicate that there may have been a version called Electra that operated at 250 to 300 kHz but details are lacking or contradictory.
The Germans then developed the concept to produce FuG 123 receivers which would allow a wider turning range.
However, by the time that this modification had been developed jamming of the Würzburg had commenced and the radar had been modified to work on one of three bands called "islands".
As the war progressed it was realised that IFF should also work with early warning radars hence a new version of the FuG 25 was developed.
The objectives of the design were; (a) Work with all anticipated service radars i.e. "staring and PPI' (b) operate at 6, later 12 frequency pairs to defeat jamming (c) for the first time provide an air-to-air mode.
[10] FuG 229 Frischling: With the deployment starting on 9 cm band radars such as the Jagdschloss Z, a need for IFF was identified.
It operated on the low-UHF band frequencies used by the FuG 200 Hohentwiel ASV airborne radar hardware.
When a ground station interrogated the unit it flashed a small light to indicate this had happened to the pilot.
A development of this system was to include a unit called the Luftkurier which decoded the Morse and indicated commands on a pointer (left/right).
Transmitted two signals, one while the motor was running and the second when it cut off, allowing its impact point to be calculated.
These explosives were linked then by a delay fuse attached onto any sensitive apparatus, which allowed it to be destroyed rather than be captured by the Allies.
