te0em ON THE BATTLEFIELD ROBOTS DRONES AND RADAR ELECTRONICS GO TO WAR Terry Burrows Lerner Publications Minneapolis
ELECTRONICS AT WAR In July 1940 the Germans planned to knock Great Britain out of World War II 1939 1945 They wanted to invade Britain and planned surprise air raids that would destroy the British Royal Air Force RAF On July 10 German fighters and bombers flew toward Britain but RAF fighters were waiting Unknown to the Germans the British had developed a warning system called radar It used radio waves to search for enemy airplanes The waves bounced off objects so operators could see German airplanes 200 miles 320 kilometers away Pilots from the British RAF race to their airplanes after receiving news of an approaching German attack air
In 1906 the US engineer Lee de Forest invented a valve that could make electrical current stronger The valve became the basis of later devices that used electrical current That gave RAF pilots time to get into the air to meet the raiders Radar helped the RAF fight off German attacks until October 31 1940 Then the Germans abandoned their planned invasion Britain would fight on in World War II CHANGING CURRENT The use of radar showed the power of electronics in warfare Electronics is the use of devices that change electrical current In the twentieth century electronics became the basis of inventions such as radio and television radar and computers In modern Warfare electronics are used to make vehicles and weapons automatic Modern Warfare sometimes resembles video games Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones attack the enemy In the future wars will increasingly be fought using weapons electronic
