Thread: Zapped By Radar? Call The Mythbusters

Two traffic partol officers from North Berwick (UK) were involved
in an unusual incident while checking for speeding motorists on the
A1 Great North Road. One of the officers was using a hand-held radar
device to check the speed of a vehicle approaching over the crest
of a hill, and was surprised when the speed was recorded at over
300mph. The radar suddenly stopped working and the offricers were
not able to reset it.

Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar
had in fact latched onto a NATO Tornado jet fighter which was
engaged in a low-flying exercise over the Border District, approaching
from the North Sea.

Back at police HQ, the chief constable fired off a stiff complaint
to the RAF liaison office. Back came the reply in true laconic RAF
style:

"Thank you for your message which allows us to complete the file
on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical
computer in the Tornado had detected the presence of, and
subsequently locked onto your hostile radar equipment and auto
-matically sent a jamming signal back to it. Furthermore, an air-to-
ground missile aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically
locked onto your equipment."

"Fortunately, the pilot flying the Tornado recognized the situation
for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system's alert
status, and was able to override the automated defence system
before the missile was launched and your hostile radar installation was destroyed. Good day..."