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Many people fail to realize that the idea of radar has been around for millions of years and the oldest radar system is still in use today: the ultrasonic sensor of a bat. Bats emit a short cry from their noses, receiving the echo with a set of two antennae in the same way that human ears receives sound waves. The oldest radar warning device also was developed millions of years ago. Tiger moths, which are frequently preyed on by bats, are equipped with ears that can detect and jam the ultrasonic signal of a bat, and they have also developed tactics to evade a bat's attack. Thus, Electronic Combat also came into being a long time ago.
Radar, an abbreviation for radio detection and ranging, is an electronic system used to locate objects beyond the range of vision, and to determine their distance by projecting a coded radio signal against them and analyzing the time it takes for the signal to be reflected back to the transmitting source. Through the signal's analysis one can additionally determine the size and shape of the target object, it's speed and direction of motion, and even its identity. Although radar was originally developed for military defense purposes during World War II, it is still widely used for controlling air traffic, detecting weather patterns, tracking spacecraft, military espionage, mapping planets, and communications devices.
Unlike bats, man kind did not become involved in the techniques of radar until the early twentieth century although it's fundamental principals had been postulated before that. The use of radar for the purpose of detecting oncoming enemy aircrafts was discovered accidentally at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory(NRL) and came into development during World War II. Many engineers and physicists from different nations around the globe played important roles towards the development of modern radar systems.
One of the most obvious influences towards such developments began with the discovery and...