The scattershot method of the CNJ could prove a hindrance: on at least one occasion, Allied ships requested a Canadian ship refrain from using its CNJ, as it could disrupt their own military communications. Later jammers produced by the Americans and British could scan glide bombs and target their specific radio frequencies. The NRC shipped the first operational CNJ to Halifax before the end of March. The Royal Canadian Navy sent an urgent request to the NRC for radio jamming devices on February 5, 1944. More importantly, it was produced quickly. The jammer would automatically defeat the glide bombs' receivers, regardless of which radio frequency had been selected for an individual missile. On at least one occasion, Allied ships requested a Canadian ship refrain from using its CNJ, as it could disrupt their own military communications. The CNJ sent a powerful jamming signal to a wide swath of radio frequencies, taking a shotgun approach to the puzzle. While the CNJ wasn't one of the best, it was one of the first effective ones, says naval history expert David Zimmerman. Most of the Allied powers were working on radio jammers. They dubbed their device - developed in under two months -the Canadian Naval Jammer (CNJ). They believed they could cause the German missiles to go awry by jamming the radio signals, disrupting communication between the aircraft and the bomb.īy emitting a stronger radio signal at the same frequency and modulation of the German Kehl transmitter, they essential blasted a channel with louder noise so the plane and bomb couldn't "talk." The duo turned to radio jamming, a relatively new field of physics. Wilkinson, physicist, and 26-year-old radio engineer (and Queen's University grad) Richard Rettie were given the crucial task of stopping glide bomb attacks - and stopping them fast. The NRC was founded in 1916 to advise the government on scientific and industrial research matters during WWI.Īmong several NRC departments was the radio branch. In Canada, the National Research Council (NRC) had exploded into a de facto military science factory, working in tandem with similar organizations in Great Britain and the United States. Physicists to the rescueĪs soon as glide bombs appeared, physicists across the Allied world lept into action. To control a glide bomb, a bombardier in the very plane that dropped the bomb would hang over the plane's bomb sight and use the missile's smoke trail to guide him to the target. Glide bombs were much simpler, but they introduced the idea of precision-guided weapons into modern warfare. Using satellite technology, they can be controlled from thousands of miles away.
#Radio scrambler full#
Modern drones are full aircraft, decked out with cameras, infrared imaging and laser-guided missiles. Glide bombs were a rudimentary precursor to the modern military drone we know and fear today. Bollinger, the existence of radio-controlled glide-bombs was largely hidden from the public. This threat to wartime shipping operations was so great that, according to author Martin J.
![radio scrambler radio scrambler](https://eartec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ScramblerPLUS_6a.jpg)
introduced the idea of precision-guided weapons into modern warfare.
![radio scrambler radio scrambler](http://luiton.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/baofeng-c2.jpg)
This turned ships (typically tricky targets) into proverbial sitting ducks. In secret, Canadian technologists sprung into action to develop a counter-defence that would end the carnage at sea.ĭropped by planes at a great height, far from the danger of a ship's anti-aircraft guns, the bombs were remotely controlled through radio signals sent to spoilers attached to their rear.
![radio scrambler radio scrambler](https://www.tourenfahrer.de/fileadmin/_processed_/b/6/csm_ducati_radio-scrambler_1140_f4c8e5c679.jpg)
In one early glide bomb attack, the Athabaskan was badly damaged and the HMS Egret (a fellow British ship) was sunk, killing 197 troops.ĭespite the power and threat of these high-tech (for the time) new weapons, many Canadians at home had no idea they existed. The new weapons threatened to wipe out the entire Allied navy: it only took two to sink a battleship. These "glide bombs" were remotely-controlled - via joystick - from the planes that dropped, then guided them to hit the Allied ships. The terrified crew had spotted a brand new weapon from Nazi Germany, one that could attack Allied battleships with never-before-seen precision.