World’s First Operational Air-To-Air Radar System
Radar, Airborne Interception, Mark IV, or AI Mk. IV for short, was the world’s first operational air-to-air radar system.
Early Mk. III units appeared in July 1940 on converted Bristol Blenheim light bombers, while the definitive Mk. IV reached widespread availability on the Bristol Beaufighter heavy fighter by early 1941.
On the Beaufighter, the Mk. IV arguably played a role in ending the Blitz, the Luftwaffe’s night bombing campaign of late 1940 and early 1941.
