By Mike Cecil
Head of Military Heraldry and Technology
Australian War Memorial

The current upgrade of the AN/TPQ-36 Weapon Locating Radar will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with an efficient, state of the art system for tracking in-coming rounds. Such radar systems saw rapid development in the post-Second World War period, with the AN/KPQ-1 introduced into Australian Army service in the early 1960s. The United States (US) unified electronic nomenclature system gives this Mortar Locating Radar (MLR) its nomenclature: 'AN' is the system indicator for a complete operating unit, 'K' means an amphibious system, 'P' indicates a radar and 'Q' indicates that it is for a specific, special purpose. '1' simply indicates this is the first of its type. At first glance, the type letter 'K' for an amphibious system would seem incongruous for a land-based system, except that this MLR was originally developed for the US Marine Corps for use on amphibious landing ships.

In Australia, the MLR equipped the Divisional Locating Batteries. As the name suggests, the MLR was able to track the flight path of in-coming, high trajectory projectiles and the attached computing system was then able to extrapolate back to the point of origin. This information provided the gun battery command post with an immediate target for counter-battery fire. The radar was capable of detecting incoming rounds out to a range of 8,515 metres. While very capable when tracking individual mortar rounds, the computer tended to get a bit muddled when tracking multiple rounds from multiple sources, which reduced the system's effectiveness.

The AN/KPQ-1 MLR detachment consisted of 11 soldiers. The Detachment Commander, five radar operators, three signalers (two of whom also acted as drivers), a radar mechanic and a driver. All 11 crew were fully engaged when coming into and out of action, as there was a lot of individual sections that had to be unpacked and set up. Once the radar was deployed, four crew were required to operate it: three radar operators, and a signaler. One operator acted as the commander providing bearings, elevations and ranges, while the other two operated the Control Indicator and the Ballistic Computer respectively. These two positions were interchanged frequently to avoid eye strain. The complete equipment was carried in three modified ¾ ton Land Rovers and trailers. The first vehicle carried the crew's personal kit and towed a trailer carrying a generator. The second vehicle carried the various interconnecting cables on their reels and towed the special trailer with the tripod for the radar antenna. The third vehicle carried the antenna pedestal and towed a trailer carrying the antenna assembly.

The AN/KPQ-1 was successfully deployed to Vietnam during the 1960s and provided support for the task force at the Nui Dat base and various fire support bases throughout Phuoc Tuy Province. Upon returning to Australia, they were refurbished and upgraded by Hawker De-Havilland Ltd at Bankstown in Sydney, before soldiering on into the 1980s until replaced by the more modern - and capable - AN/TPQ-36 Weapon Locating Radar.