1966 US Army Vietnam War ARMOR ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMAPPENDIX XXIEMPLOYMENT OF GROUND SURVEILLANCE RADAR1. General cavalry troops and to ground surveillance seca.Ground surveillance radar equipment pro- tions of combat maneuver battalions.vides the armor unit with a mobile, all-weather b. Medium range radar organic to groundcapability for battlefield surveillance. This surveillance sections of cavalry squadrons andequipment can be either vehicular or ground combat maneuver battalions.mounted and complements other combat surveillanceand target acquisition means in the 3. Capabilities and Limitationsbattalion. Its employment is coordinated close- a. Radar energy produced by ground surlywith the employment of patrols, listening veillance equipment can penetrate light camposts,observation posts, and with infrared and ouflage, smoke, haze, light rain, light snow,other sensory devices. Ground surveillance ra- darkness and light foliage to detect targets; itdar can provide observation from a given van- will not penetrate dense undergrowth, trees,tage point 24 hours a day and can detect tar- and heavy foliage. Heavy rain or snow seriousgetsand provide a much more accurate range ly restrict radar detection capabilities; howandazimuth reading than is possible in eye es- ever, a well trained operator can minimizetimation. By using this all-weather, 24-hour ca- these effects. Radar sets have a line-of-sightpability inherent in ground surveillance radar capability.equipment, the unit commander can increase b. Ground surveillance radar is generallyappreciably the effective use of fire support ineffective against air targets unless the airmeans.target is flying close to the ground as it is deb.Although the radar equipment is an excel- signed to only detect moving targets in thelent means of obtaining information, it does presence of a background. The radar is vulnotreplace other surveillance means. Its pri- nerable to :jamming by electronic and other demaryadvantage is its ability to complement ception means.other means and to detect objects with accuracywhen other surveillance means cannot. Radaris used primarily for operations at night or a. Search. To systematically inspect an areaunder conditions of poor visibility (haze, fog, by range scan, azimuth scan, elevation scan, oror smoke); radar equipment may be used effec- a combination of the three.tively during periods of good visibility. The b. Range Scan. A method of search in whichemployment of this equipment should not be a specific area (fixed by width of beam) is inrestrictedto a certain type of terrain, a rigid spected in range by the range gate.set of conditions, or to a few functional opera- c. Azimuth Scan. A method of search intions.which a specific area is inspected in azimuth bymoving the radar set in azimuth throughout2. Types of Radar Equipment the area to be searched.The two general types of ground surveillance d. Elevation Scan. A method of search inradar equipment found in an armor ground which a specific area is inspected in elevationunit are-by moving the radar set in elevation througha. Short range radar organic to armored the area to be searched.390