‘Russia May Jam Berlin Air Radar’

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29912, 28 August 1962, Page 15

‘Russia May Jam Berlin Air Radar’

(N.Z. Press Association— -Copyright)

LONDON, August 27. ' The Russians were planning to jam Western aircraft navigational radar in Berlin in an attempt to stop Allied aircraft landing in West Berlin, the “Daily Mail” reported today.

Allied intelligence had pin-pointed three major Russian jamming stations in the Communist sector. They were in the suburb of Heinesdorf, on the eastern outskirts.

Western authorities in Berlin expected the next round in the struggle for Berlin would be in the air and would come this winter, when the long, dark nights set in and bad weather restricted flying. The Russians were now completing the last preparations for jamming the West's radar, the newspaper said. At the same time East Germany had speeded work on extending the runways of the Communist-held Schoenefeld aiirport outside the city limits. Western experts said the staige was being set for the next attempt to force the Allies, if not out of West Berlin, then through the Communist sieve. The East's aim would be to force Western airlines to use the Soviet airfield. If the West did so it would have a disastrous effect on the morale of West Betliners, who would then feel that there was no freedom of travel, and that they were caught in a trap, the “Daily Mail" reported. The “Daily Telegraph,” in a report from Berlin, said the jamming devices were mounted on water towers in East Berlin. They could seriously inconvenience Western aircraft in the air corridors, but, according to preliminary reports, they could not put an end to air traffic. The West had given, top priority to anti-jamming techniques and some experts believed a partial answer had

been found, the “Daily Telegraph" said. A new device that “jumps" the radar beam from one frequency to another, always one step ahead of the jammer, could keep Western planes in the air. A greater immediate danger would be the withdrawal of the Russian member of the four-Power Air Safety Centre

in Berlin. If this happened and control was handed to tine East Germans, then Allied counter-action plans would go into immediate operation. These were believed to include the placing of military markings on civilian aircraft. But the Allies were aware that their plans would only be partly satisfactory. Planes might be kept flying, but it would be in such circumstances that few civilian passengers would be likely to use them. Without civilian traffic, the life of West Berlin would come to a standstill. The “Daily Telegraph'* said one jamming device was beamed on the main West Berlin airport, Tempe Ihof, while two others were nearing completion to be beamed on the French sector airfield at Tegel and on the R.A.F. airfield at Gatow.