Bloodhound Engagement Control Vehicle Update:
The convoluted history of the Bloodhound Mk 4 is given elsewhere in this thread (see my Bloodhound Mk 4 TEL build) but, for reference, a reminder is given below:
The system's initial development appeared to be shrouded in secrecy; however, various staged leaks in the early 1960s led the Soviets to believe that the project would be fielded in early 1965. This resulted in the USSR sinking large quantities of time, effort and roubles into rushing the 2K11 Krug (NATO designation - SA-4 Ganef) into production by 1964 ahead of its UK counter-part. Having achieved its primary aim of suckering the Soviets into fielding a very expensive and none too reliable missile system the UK government fully intended to shelve their own mobile SAM project which was nowhere near as fully developed as they had led the Soviets to believe and continue with the extant static Bloodhound 2 system. However, increased tensions between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in late 1965 saw the mobile Bloodhound 4 missile system completed and fielded by the RAF Regt in 1966.The Engagement Control Vehicle (ECV) was the heart of the mobile Bloodhound Mk 4 semi-active, radar-homing missile system with each ECV supporting 4 x Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicles. Each ECV consisted of an I-Band, Type 86 'Firelight' target illumination radar; a G-Band, Type 81 'Blue Scarab' surveillance radar; and an engagement control post mounted on the same stretched M110 chassis as the TEL. The top-mounted Firelight was actually a cluster of radars - the main parabolic dish being the continuous-wave, target illumination transmitter; the narrower parabolic dish to the side being the target tracking receiver; the small circular antenna between the two was essentially a Bloodhound missile receiver and was used to counter possible enemy ECM; and the rectangular antenna next to the main parabolic dish was used for missile tracking. The lower-mounted Blue Scarab radar provided a revisionary/secondary surveillance capability out to approximately 100Km should communications to the longer-range cuing radars of the UK Air Defence Ground Environment (UKADGE) be lost. Both the Type 86 and the Type 81 radars were capable of independent 360-degree movement. The ECV had a crew of 4. The Bloodhound Mk 4 system was operational with the RAF Regt from 1966 until 1989 when it was eventually replaced by the Guardian air defence system.
The model depicts A5, Engagement Control Vehicle (ECV) of A Flt, 54 Sqn RAF Regt. The Sqn had 4 x ECVs - one on each combat flight and one spare held on HQ Flt. The model is made from a couple of old Italeri M110 models, various 3D printed radar components, a fair amount of plastic/styrene card and some home-made decals.