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P-30 “Big Mesh”

Description of the radar set, tactical-technical characteristics

Figure 1: The typically V-Beam antenna

Figure 1: The typically V-Beam antenna

Specifications
frequency: E/F–Band
pulse repetition time (PRT):
pulse repetition frequency (PRF):
pulsewidth (τ):
receiving time:
dead time:
peak power: 1 MW
average power: 50 kW
instrumented range: 360 km
range resolution: 500 m
accuracy:
beamwidth: 0,6 - 1,7°
hits per scan:
antenna rotation: 6 rpm
MTBCF:
MTTR:

P-30 “Big Mesh”

P-30 “Crystal” (Cyrillic: "Хрусталь"; NATO designation: “Big Mesh”) was an early centimeter wave radar of the former Soviet Union.

Slanting the upper antenna to a V-beam enables an altitude determination of the target. If the target sign of an aim was written twice on the scope, then the associated target flew at a higher altitude. The farther away both parts of the target’s blip were on the screen, the higher the target’s altitude.

The vertical antenna part next to the lower reflector (in the picture 1: this bright beacon on the left) is the compensation antenna of the secondary radar with active response (NRS-20), which was supposed to enable better identification of own aircraft with the introduction of the MiG 21. The main antenna of the NRS-20 also used the lower parabolic reflector.

The radar was adopted into the Soviet Army’s armament in 1955. In 1959, the radar was modernized to P-30M “Saturn.” This modernization provided a range improvement of 10 to 15 percent by using traveling wave tubes as low-noise preamplifiers in the receiver.

Due to the possibilities of digital target detection and target tracking utilizing a plot extractor that can process up to 200 targets simultaneously, this radar received a renaissance and was reissued under the designation 1L117. The accuracy of digital altitude determination is 400 m.