AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasions, changing names as part of these moves, so the AMES name applies only to the period between 1936 and 1939.
Although used as a name by the team itself only briefly, the AMES acronym became the basis for naming Royal Air Force radar systems through the war. The same numbering sequence was used after the war as well, but often dropped the AMES from the name. A good example is the Type 80, which was officially AMES Type 80, but often appears without that marque. Many post-war systems were also assigned a rainbow code and are better known by that name.
The AMES numbering scheme was often ad hoc, with some entries simply being other sets operating together. For instance, the Type 21 was simply a Type 13 and Type 14 in a single vehicle convoy. In other cases Types differ only in minor details, like the Type 31 through 34, which are the same radars mounted in various ways. They are also often out-of-order; the Type 8 was the prototype for the Type 7.
AMES Type 70, a combination of Type 13, 14 and several other systems organized into a huge convoy of vehicles for mobile large-scale operations. Two such collections put together.
AMES Type 79, an IFF Mark X interrogator retrofit to some Type 7 stations during ROTOR
AMES Type 100, 20–80 MHz Transponder-based navigation system – GEE-H
AMES Type 700, 1.7–2.0 MHz Hyperbolic navigation system – LORAN
AMES Type 7000, 30–60 MHz Hyperbolic navigation system – GEE ground station
AMES Type 9000, 200 MHz transponder-based navigation system – Oboe Mk I ground station – Oboe Mk III, S band
Mobile units
Mobile radar units, usually consisting of COL, GCI, or similar equipment, mounted in vehicles, was used extensively overseas, and these units received numerical designations preceded by 'AMES', e.g., AMES 1505 – one of the units providing GCI coverage of the Naples sector during the Allied invasion of Italy.[1]
Fighter Direction Tenders
Three Landing Ship, Tank (LST) were converted into "Fighter Direction Tenders" (FDT), swapping their landing craft for Motor Launches[2] and outfitted with AMES Type 11 and Type 15 fighter control radar to provide GCI coverage for air defence of the D-Day landing areas. Of these ships, FDT 216 was stationed off Omaha and Utah beaches, FDT 217 was allocated Sword, Juno, and Gold beaches. FDT 13 was used for coverage of the overall main shipping channel. In the period 6 to 26 June Allied fighters controlled by the FDTs resulted in the destruction of 52 enemy aircraft by day, and 24 enemy aircraft by night.[3]
Post-War
Post World War II in addition to the AMES Type XX designation new equipment was also allocated a Rainbow Code name during development, e.g., AMES Type 86 was allocated the code name Blue Anchor. In addition, the manufacturing company, Ferranti, had its own internal and marketing name for the equipment, in this case, Firelight.
AMES Type 86, 10 GHz mobile CW target illuminator radar for Bristol Bloodhound 2 – a.k.a. Blue Anchor, Firelight – Ferranti
AMES Type 87, Bloodhound Mk 2 guidance control system a.k.a. Scorpion - some sources claim this was initially applied to the Blue Jokerballoon-borne radar, but there is no solid evidence of this and it was cancelled in 1960 before it proceeded to production and would have been assigned a number
AMES Type 88, 1.3 GHz/3 GHz Tactical Control/Surveillance radar – used in conjunction with AMES Type 89 – pair a.k.a. Green Ginger – Marconi
AMES Type 89, 3 GHz Tactical Control Height Finder – used in conjunction with AMES Type 88 – pair a.k.a. Green Ginger – Marconi
AMES Type 90, 1.3 GHz 3MW Early Warning/Fighter Control radar, Marconi Martello S713
AMES Type 91, 1.3 GHz 132 kW Early Warning/Fighter Control radar – a.k.a., Martello S723
Bragg, Michael (1988). RDF1 The Location of Aircraft by Radio Methods 1935–1945. Paisley: Hawkhead. ISBN0-9531544-0-8. The history of ground radar in the UK during World War II
Latham, Colin & Stobbs, Anne (1996). Radar A Wartime Miracle. Stroud: Sutton. ISBN0-7509-1643-5. A history of radar in the UK during World War II told by the men and women who worked on it.