Freya radar was an early form of radar deployed by Nazi Germany during World War II, named after the Norse Goddess Freya. During the war over a thousand stations were built.

First tests of what would become the "Freya" early warning radar were conducted in early 1937, with initial delivery of an operational radar to the Kriegsmarine in 1938. It appeared to received a much lower priority than British radar until later in the war. The Freya radar was in fact much more sophisticated than the British Chain Home (CH) counterpart, and by operating in the 1.2 m wavelength (as opposed to ten times that for the CH) the Freya was able to be much smaller and yet offer better resolution. Yet by the start of the war only eight of these units were in operation, offering much less coverage.

Later in the war Freya operated in the band from 2.5 to 2.3 meters / 120 to 130 MHz, with a pulse width of 3 microseconds, a peak power output of 15 to 20 kW, and a PRF of 500 Hz. However it had a maximum range of only 160 kilometers (100 miles) and could not accurately determine altitude, making it inferior to CH in those respects, but it was a fully steerable and a mobile system.

See also

• Wuerzburg radar