Royal Radar Establishment The name Royal Radar Establishment was given to the existing Radar Research Establishment following a visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 . Both names were abbreviated to RRE . The establishment had been formed , under its first name , in 1953 by merging the Telecommunications Research Establishment ( TRE ) and the Radar Research and Development Establishment ( RRDE ) . These had worked on airborne and ground based radar , respectively . RRE was located in Malvern , Worcestershire , where both TRE and RRDE had been housed at different sites . The earlier research and development work of TRE and RRDE on radar , solid state physics , electronics , and computer hardware and software was continued in the merged establishment , and the overall scope was extended to include cryogenics and other topics . Infrared detection for guided missiles and heat sensing devices was a major defence application . Administrative history . The earlier radar research organization B . R . S . ( Bawdsey Research Station ) was on the east coast of England , about 10 miles north east of Felixstowe . It moved to Dundee in Scotland , at the outbreak of World War II , and changed its name to Air Ministry Research Establishment ( A . M . R . E . ) . In May , 1940 , the organization moved to Worth Matravers , near Swanage in Dorset , on the south coast of England . The organization was renamed again , as Air Ministry Telecommunications Research Establishment . In May 1942 , TRE moved to Malvern . The Radar Research and Development Establishment ( RRDE ) had split off earlier , and was moved to Malvern at about the same time . TRE and the history of radar are discussed in separate articles . TRE was part of the Ministry of Supply and , when it was formed , so was RRE . In 1959 , control passed to the Ministry of Aviation . When this was abolished in 1967 , control passed to the Ministry of Technology , then to the Ministry of Aviation Supply , in 1970 , and to the Ministry of Defence in 1971 . In 1976 RRE merged with the Signals Research and Development Establishment to form the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment ( RSRE ) , which became part of the Defence Research Agency ( DRA ) in 1991 . Later ( 1995 ) , DRA was absorbed into DERA , the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency . DERA split on 2 June 2001 into two parts , a government body called Dstl ( Defence Science and Technology Laboratory ) and a company destined for privatisation , which became QinetiQ . The technical departments of RRE were grouped , initially , into six Divisions : airborne radar , ground radar , guided weapons , basic techniques , physics , and engineering . The organization and personnel are described further , in a collection of linked web sites . W . J . Richards , CBE , was Director of TRE at the time of the merger and continued as Director of RRE . W . H . Penley , Head of Guided Missiles , took over for a year in 1961 . Then George Macfarlane ( after postings outside RRE ) became Director in 1962 . The Physics Division - - some of the staff and their work . At the time of the name change to Radar Research Establishment in 1953 , the senior staff included Other members of the Physics Division who made significant contributions to several fields of endeavour include : In 1956 , R . A . Smith presented a comprehensive account of the contributions of RRE to physics to the Royal Society . Radar , Guided weapons and Engineering Divisions . Although less conspicuous among academic scientists , these divisions were major players in the defence community , both in policy decision making and as an interface with industry . Development and production contracts brought staff of several companies on site , and extramural contracts strengthened ties with industry still further . " in radar alone : Plessey and Decca for aerials and waveguides , Plessey , Hilger & Watts , Clarke Chapman and Curran for millimetre - wave radar , and Mullard for precision bombing and radar reconnaissance " . On returning to RRE as Director in 1962 , George Macfarlane reorganized the technical departments into : Military and Civil Systems ( comprising Ground Radar and Air Traffic Control , Guided Weapons and Airborne Radar groups ) , Physics and Electronics ( comprising Physics and Electronic Groups ) and Engineering . " Despite the policy shift away from fighters . . . to guided weapons for UK air defence , . . . RRE continued to argue for strike aircraft and kept up the necessary radar research programs . " Senior staff , of the divisions at various times included More than 50 books were written by members of the establishment under its successive names . Details are included in the list of references below , and in the TRE article . Many more were in series that members of the staff edited . In 1968 , the Minister of Supply assured a member of parliament that the results of research at RRE on infra - red detectors would be made available to British industry .