In 1954 the idea of a general-purpose frigate with the ability to provide some fighter direction arose, which required a radar with a much narrower beam.

The Type 965Q and 965R were improvements on the 965M and 965P respectively, adding a COHO-based moving target indication (MTI) mode to suppress clutter.

[3] Designed before the introduction of Doppler filtering, it was not able to detect low-level targets against a background, either landforms or high waves.

[1] The lack of a true MTI proved to be a serious problem during the 1982 Falklands War, which ultimately led to the loss of HMS Coventry where Argentine aircraft could not be seen against the background of the islands.

In 1955, four radars were considered:[1][10] A potential route for the Royal Navy to get the SPS-6C was the Mutual Defense Assistance program (MDAP), but by 1954-5 the programme was running down.