Radar warning receiver

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The War Thunder standard RWR display showing a pulse-Doppler "track" from the 5 o'clock sector.

A Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) is a system that informs the pilot about incoming radar radiation, allowing for proper action if needed. In-game, the RWR varies a lot between models, but most of them are a clock display which shows the type of threat (search radar or tracking radar), the source, and the direction.

Understanding the RWR

Msg-info.png Note: Radar Warning Receivers are only capable of detecting certain bands. Radars that operate at frequencies outside of those bands will not be detected.

Basic function

  • RWR tutorial 1.jpg
  • RWR tutorial 2.jpg
  • RWR Tutorial 3.jpg
  • RWR tutorial 4.jpg
  • RWR tutorial 5.jpg

The RWR warns the pilot about any outside radar that may be detecting, tracking, or launching a radar-guided missile at the user's aircraft, as long as the threat isn't in the RWR's blindspots (often directly above or below).

If a radar is sending a single "ping" at you (a search radar is detecting you), the RWR will sound a short warning and show the direction it is coming from. RWR can show multiple pings at once from different directions and sources. If you hear a constant alarm and see a dashed line coming from the ping towards the center of the RWR, a tracking radar has locked you and is constantly tracking your position (which usually precedes a missile launch). Finally, a faster alarm along with blinking warnings in the RWR indicate a missile launch, which requires immediate action.

Most RWR have dead angles from which they can't see the enemy radar, particularly from directly above or below.

Some RWRs are incapable of distinguishing between search radars and tracking radars. If your RWR is one of them, instead of a constant alarm you may only be able to distinguish between the two by how frequently the ping updates (A constant tone that doesn't go away may indicate a tracking radar).

There may be lamps which indicate the type of radar that's detecting or tracking the aircraft, for example PD (Pulse-Doppler), A/D (Air Defence), AAA/AI (Anti-Aircraft Artillery/Airborne Radar) and much more, although the most dangerous of them all is CW which is the guidance method for most SARH missiles.

There are many types of RWR which vary a lot in function:

Standard RWR

This type of RWR is the one that's commonly found on most aircraft that carry one. They display the exact direction and the type of threat that's detecting the aircraft.

Many of them are capable of detecting tracking radars, and some can even detect if the threat has launched a radar-guided missile, allowing for immediate evasive action. More advanced RWRs may be able to identify the vehicle that's triggering the RWR as long as they're inside the RWR's database.

Sectored RWR (SPO-10, SPO-15 and others)

SPO-10 RWR.
A Soviet SPO-15 RWR.

This type of RWR doesn't display the exact direction of the detected threat, and instead only shows it in sectors. One of the most common RWRs that use sectors for displaying threats are the ones used by the MiG-21 and early MiG-23 variants, which only show 4 sectors. Each sector shows an approximation of the direction of the target, although it has its limitations. In order to show that a target is directly ahead, the RWR has to light up 2 sectors that look forwards, and if a target is directly behind, it has to light up 2 sectors that look backwards. This could be easily confused for two different threats that are triggering the RWR system.

Semi-Directional RWR (SPO-2)

Unique to the Su-7B family of jets and the MiG-19S, this RWR only warns about radiation that's coming from behind as it only has a single antenna. Historically, this RWR was designed to warn the pilot about an enemy that was using the rangefinder radar behind the aircraft, but in-game it gives proper warnings up to 40 km away as long as the radiation is an I Band type coming from the rear. Note that this RWR lacks tracking capability.

RWR with no tracking capability (AN/ALR-45, AN/APR-25, f95, SPO-2, APP-73 and others)

These RWRs function like normal with a key difference: If a radar locks the aircraft, there won't be a special text and audio warning, forcing the user to be more attentive to the RWR display and sounds.

However, these RWRs can still show the difference between a search and a tracking radar, as once the plane is being tracked, the search ping extends into a constant tone that won't go away, along with the ping icon refusing to fade away.

Note that even if the RWR lacks tracking capability, it may still be able to give proper missile launch warnings if the RWR has that capability.

Symbols

  • AI (Air-to-Air) - Air Intercept Radar
  • AI R/O - Airborne Rangefinder
  • AI HI - Air Intercept Radar in high frequency band
  • AI TRK - Air Intercept Radar in track mode
  • PULSE - Pulse signal
  • PD (Pulse Doppler) - Pulse Doppler Radar
  • MPRF - PD with medium pulse repetition frequency
  • HPRF - PD with high pulse repetition frequency
  • CW - Continuous Wave signal (Guidance method of most SARH missiles)
  • CW/PD - CW or PD signal
  • A/D (Air Defense) - Air Defense System
  • SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile) - SAM Radar
  • SAM LO - SAM low frequency band
  • SAM MID - SAM medium frequency band
  • SAM HI - SAM high frequency band
  • SAM TRK - SAM Radar (Tracking)
  • SAM LNC - SAM in launch mode
  • AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) - Anti-Aircraft Artillery
  • AAA/AI - Anti-Aircraft Artillery or Radar/Airborne Radar
  • AAA LO - AAA in low frequency band
  • AAA TRK - Anti-Aircraft Artillery Radar (Tracking)
  • TWS - Track While Scan
  • S125 - S-125 Neva
  • S75 - S-75 Desna
  • SA75 - SA-75 Divina
  • N-H - MIM-14 Nike-Hercules
  • HAWK - MIM-23 Hawk

List of RWR systems

RWR systems
Name Band Track Equipped by
C D E F G H I J K - M
Spain flag.png ALR-400 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALQ-73 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-45 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-45(V) alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-46 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-46(V)3 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-56C alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-56M alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-67(V)2 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-68(V) alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/ALR-69 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-25 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-27 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-32 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-36 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-39 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APR-39A(V)1 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APS-54 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USA flag.png AN/APS-109 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Sweden flag.png APP F9/5 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Sweden flag.png APP-27 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Sweden flag.png APP-73 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Sweden flag.png AR830 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Britain flag.png ARI 18223 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Britain flag.png ARI 18228 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Britain flag.png ARI 18241/1 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Britain flag.png ARI 23284 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Britain flag.png ARI 23333/1 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Japan flag.png J/APR-1 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Japan flag.png J/APR-2 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Japan flag.png J/APR-3 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Japan flag.png J/APR-4 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Japan flag.png J/APR-6 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
China flag.png KJ8602 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
China flag.png KJ8602A alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
France flag.png Mirage Detecteur alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
China flag.png RWR alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
France flag.png SERVAL alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USSR flag.png SPO L-150 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USSR flag.png SPO-2 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USSR flag.png SPO-10 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USSR flag.png SPO-15 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
USSR flag.png SPO-15LM alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
Israel flag.png SPS-200 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
France flag.png Sherloc alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
China flag.png Type 930 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}
China flag.png Type 930-4 alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}} alt={{{alt}}}

Media

Videos
Radar Warning Receivers: The Complete Guide (2024) - Tim's Variety
RWRs: The Ultimate Guide - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

External links

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