Radar essentially began in South Africa following a meeting in London in February 1939, at which the country's High Commissioner to London was informed, along with his colleagues from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, of a 'security device connected with air defence'. This led to the famous meeting between Professor B.F.J.Schonland, Director of the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research (BPI) at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Dr Ernest Marsden from New Zealand on the latter's return from London, via Cape Town, to his home country. Within months, an indigenous, South African, radar was developed and deployed operationally. After a post World War II lull, sanctions starting in the 1960s led to an independent and innovative industry, producing a wide range of radar, and electronic defence products. This paper will show how the introduction of radar to the South African armed forces led, within a short time, to the military essentially becoming becoming technology-driven.
展开▼
