Serrate radar detector

This worked by triggering the German identification friend or foe (IFF) transceivers and receiving the reply on the same antennas as Serrate.

As the timing of the request pulse was known, Perfectos revealed both the angle and range to the target, removing the need to switch to radar at the end of the approach.

A half-wave dipole for the system's 1.5 m wavelength signals should be about 75 cm but antennas of this size produced considerable drag on the aircraft.

By chance, the Germans selected a 50 cm wavelength for their own AI radars, which made the Mark IV antennas almost perfectly suited for receiving their signals.

VIII radar version became widespread by late 1942 and were installed primarily on the Mosquito, leaving the problem of what to do with the older Bristol Beaufighters mounting Mk.

This difficulty arose at the time that the use of the H2S radar was being debated within Bomber Command, with concern that an aircraft lost over Europe would reveal the secret of the magnetron to the Germans.

This was aided by the landing of an intact Junkers Ju 88R-1 night fighter in May 1943 in Scotland, by its defecting crew, revealing the latest operational frequencies of the German radars.

141 Squadron transferred to 100 Group Bomber Command in late 1943 and during the Battle of Berlin on the night of 16/17 December, a Mosquito flown by Squadron Leader F. F. Lambert and Flying Officer K. Dear made Bomber Command's first successful Serrate-guided operational sortie when they damaged a Bf 110 with cannon fire.

[1] The Serrate night fighter offensive preceded far greater and wide-ranging support operations by the specialist 100 Group during 1944–1945.