ARSR-2 Long-Range Search Radar Set - A long-range ground search radar set built by Raytheon for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). First deployed about 1960.
ARSR-2 Search Radar
The ARSR-2 was a long-range L-band (1215- 1400 MHz) air-route-surveillance radar built by Raytheon for the FAA. Eighteen ARSR-2s were deployed by the FAA starting about 1960. The ARSR-2 was used as a surveillance system to detect azimuth and range of en-route aircraft operating between FAA terminal areas. The ARSR-2 was an upgrade of the ARSR-1 and also used a conventional magnetron feeding 400 kW peak power into an amplitron to provide an additional 10 dB gain.
ARSR-2 Typical Equipment Layout prior to the Solid State Receiver/Digital Moving Target Indicator (SSR/DMTI) Modification.
ARSR-2 Upgrades
The ARSR-2 was based on a 1960s vintage radar that has been updated through the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).
The ARSR-2 is usually interfaced with a collocated Common Digitizer Model 1/2 (CD-1/CD-2) or other digital processors which provided digitized output.
By 2015 all of the operating ARSR-2s had been further transformed into Common Air-Route-Surveillance (CARSR) radars with additional solid-state components that would extend the supportable life of the set into 2025.
Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf, page 88.
