Thorium
Contents
Description
The Toriy or Thorium is a Russian airborne target detection (search) radar. In game it is found fitted to the La-200.
Vehicles equipped with this radar
General info / usage
The Toriy is only a target detection radar so cannot, by itself, track targets or provide a lead indicator. The radar has a respectable maximum detection range of 15 km, but a narrow scanning angle, it does, however, scan at a fairly quick sweep rate.
| General Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Detection Range |
Guaranteed Detection Range |
Minimum Detection Range |
Range Settings |
| 15,000 m | 12,000 m | 300 m | 15 km |
| Search Modes | |||
| Search Mode | Azimuth Scan Angle |
Elevation Scan Angle |
Scan Time |
| Default | ±30° | ±32° | 0.7 s |
Comparison with analogues
The Toriy radar compares fairly closely to the RP-5 and AI Mk. X search radars. Of the three the Toriy has the best range with a 15 km max range and 12 km guaranteed range; however, it also has the worst scanning angles of only ±30°. While equaling the RP-5's minimum range, it still falls behind the 150 m minimum range of the AI Mk. X.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Respectable 15,000 m max range
- Fairly fast scanning
Cons:
- Fairly narrow scanning angles
History
In the late 1940s, the Soviets put out requirements for a high-performance night and bad weather interceptor, which would carry the "Toriy" ("Thorium") radar, which was under development at the Naoochno-Issledovatel'skiy Institut Priborostroyeniya (Research Institute of Instrument Engineering) or NII-17. This competition would lead to the development of the La-200, Su-15, and I-320.
During testing of the La-200 the Toriy radar was found to have unreliable and generally poor performance. The Tiroy radar was replaced with the "Korshun" ("Kite") radar, which offered better performance although still not adequate. Eventually by 1953 it too was replaced with the "Sokol" ("Falcon") radar, which finally provided adequate performance. By the time the Sokol radar was ready the performance of the three aircraft orignally designed for the program was deemed no longer good enough and all three were canceled in favour of a new aircraft, the Yakovlev Yak-25.
Media
An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.
