page_title: Freya radar
section_title: Deployment and operation
hierarchical_section_title: Freya radar / Deployment and operation
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. English: Air Force Museum Berlin-Gatow: German Radar "Wurzburg Riese" (FuMG 65) und "Freya"; ITU-classificatio: Radiolocation land station in the radiolocation service. Deutsch: Luftwaffenmuseum Berlin-Gatow: Funkmessgerät "Würzburg Riese" (FuMG 65) und "Freya"; Klassifizierung: ortsfeste nichtnavigatorische Ortungsfunkstelle im nichtnavigatorischen Ortungsfunkdienst.
context_page_description: Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II; it was named after the Norse Goddess Freyja. During the war, over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also developed as the Seetakt.
context_section_description: Freya was often used in concert with the primary German gun laying radar, Würzburg Riese ("Würzburg Giant"); the Freya finding targets at long distances and then "handing them over" to the shorter-ranged Würzburgs for tracking.
  Later in the war, Freya operated in the band from 2.5 to 2.3 m (8.2 to 7.5 ft) (120 to 130 MHz), with a pulse width of three microseconds, a peak power output of 15 to 20 kW, and a pulse repetition frequency of 500 Hz. It had a maximum range of only 160 kilometers (99 mi), making it inferior to Chain Home.  Furthermore, it could not accurately determine altitude, but it was a fully steerable and semi-mobile system.
  Freya was first successfully used on December 18, 1939 when two stations detected an approaching daytime raid on Wilhelmshaven by 22 RAF Vickers Wellington bombers at a range of 113 km and guided fighter planes toward them via radio. Only half of the Wellingtons returned to Britain undamaged, but the German fighters only reached the bomber after they had made their bombing run on ships in harbour. The performance of Freya left the Luftwaffe so impressed that, by the Spring of 1940, eleven Freya stations were installed to guard Germany's western border. After the invasion of France in 1940, additional Freya stations were built along the Atlantic coast. When Britain started its bombing raids, Hermann Göring ordered Colonel (later General) Josef Kammhuber to install an efficient air defence. This led to the so-called Kammhuber Line into which more Freya stations were incorporated. In the later course of the war, Freya devices turned out to be vulnerable to chaff, along with other countermeasures, which meant they could still be used for early warning, but no longer for guiding fighter planes. British bombing raids could also be organized such that the Kammhuber Line could be overwhelmed in massed raids.
caption: Freya (right) and Würzburg-Riese, date and place unknown
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