During World War II, the German Luftwaffe relied on an increasingly diverse array of electronic communications, IFF and RDF equipment as avionics in its aircraft and also on the ground. Most of this equipment received the generic prefix FuG for Funkgerät, meaning "radio equipment". Most of the aircraft-mounted Radar equipment also used the FuG prefix. This article is a list and a description of the radio, IFF and RDF equipment.
Airborne communications FuG I: An early receiver/transmitter set manufactured by Lorenz. It operated in the 600 to 1667 kHz range (generally the entire American AM radio broadcast band) at a power of 20 to 100 watts, depending on installation.
FuG II: An update of the FuG 1, also manufactured by Lorenz, that operated in the 310 to 600 kHz frequency range, the lower end of the MF band.
FuG 03: Codenamed Stuttgart, was an airborne receiver/transmitter set used in bombers. Was fitted in: Do 11, Do 17 E and F, Fw 58, He 114, Ju 52, Ar 66, Ar 96, Junkers W 33 and W 34. Set consists of: S 3a Transmitter; E 2a Receiver. Power source: G 3 Air-driven generator and 2 - 90 volt dry cells. The FuG 03 operated in the 1250 to 1400 kHz frequency range.
FuG 7: A compact airborne receiver/transmitter used in fighters and dive bombers. Prior to 1943, it was fitted in the Bf 109C to G-2, and Fw 190 A-0 to A-3. After 1943, it was still fitted in the Ju 87 and Hs 129. The FuG 7 typically operated in the 2.5 to 7.5 MHz, with a power of approximately 7 watts. The range of the FuG 7 was approximately 50 km in good weather. Later versions of the FuG 7 included the FuG 7a, which included the S 6a Transmitter, E 5a Receiver and Junction Box VK 5 A.
FuG 10 series: A family of transceivers for both R/T and W/T communications. The German FuG 10 panel, or rack, contained two transmitters and two receivers: One transmitter and its companion receiver operated in the MF or Longwave; 300 to 600 kHz (1,000 to 500 m) range and the other transmitter and its companion receiver operated in the HF or Shortwave range; 3 to 6 MHz (100 to 50 m). Most of the FuG 10 series used a fixed wire aerial between the fuselage and tailfin or a retractable trailing aerial wire. The FuG 10P replaced the standard E 10L longwave receiver with an EZ6 unit for a G6 direction finding set. The FuG 10ZY incorporated a fixed loop D/F aerial and a homing device for navigation to a ground station. This loop aerial, usually fitted on a small, "teardrop" shaped mounting, was standard equipment on most fighter aircraft from late 1943 on. Manufactured by Lorenz.Aders, 1979. Typical power was 70 watts.
FuG 11: Developed as a replacement for the FuG 10 series. No MF mode, and of up to 3 kW output. Increased HF-only transceiving range to 3 - 30 MHz (the entire HF band). CW & AM voice. Reduced volume, cost & weight. Intended to be combined with the PeilG 6 & FuBL 2. It could be fitted with a remote control system that allowed the pilot to control it rather than the radio operator. Development completed but never deployed as there was little demand for long range bomber communications in 1944.
FuG 13: Designed to supplement early versions of the FuG 10 to improve long range communications. Frequency range 3 MHz to 20 MHz 20 Watts output power. Deployed on long range aircraft such as the Fw 200 Condor. Improvements in the FuG 10 family resulted in no need for this additional radio and it was withdrawn from service.
FuG 15: Intended as the next standard aircraft transceiver to replace earlier series units. Unusual in using FM as well as AM for voice. Operating Frequency 37.8 to 47.7 MHz. It could be fitted with a remote control system that allowed the pilot to control it rather than the radio operator. Production planned to start in 1942 but service trials showed problems and deployment stopped. Replaced by the FuG 16. Completed units rebuilt as BS 15 navigation radio beacons in 1945.
FuG 16 Z, ZE and ZY: These sets were airborne VHF transceivers used in single-seat fighter aircraft for R/T and W/T communications, and were also used for ground fixes and DF homing on ground stations when used in conjunction with the FuG 10P or FuG 10ZY. Installed for Bf 109G-3/G-4 and later, Fw 190A-4 and later subtypes. Frequency Range was 38.5 to 42.3 MHz. The FuG 16ZY was also used for Y-Verfahren (Y-Control), in which aircraft were fitted up as Leitjäger or Fighter Formation Leaders that could be tracked and directed from the ground via special R/T equipment. Aircraft equipped with ZY were fitted with a Morane whip aerial array. Principal components: Transmitter, Receiver, Modulator in one case, S 16 Z Tx, E 16 Z Rcvr, NG 16 Z Modulator Dynamotor U 17 Antenna Matching unit AAG 16 Z Modulator Unit MZ 16 Homing Unit ZVG 16 Indicator AFN - 2
FuG 17 Z and ZY: These sets were airborne VHF transceivers used in Close Air Support aircraft for R/T and W/T communications with ground units. Frequency Range was 42 to 48.3 MHz. This matched the ground forces FuG 7 radio fitted to command tanks and reconnaissance units. The FuG 17 was identical to the FuG 16 with the exception of the frequency range and seems to have been deployed first. In the FuG 17ZY version it was also used for Y-Verfahren (Y-Control), though it seems to have superseded it this role by the FuG 16ZY when it became available.
FuG 18: Developed in 1944 as an improvement to the FuG 15. Frequency range 24 - 75 MHz. FM & AM voice. FuG 18Y included the ability for Y-control, blind landing and Hermine beacon receive.
FuG 24: This set was developed from the FuG 16 as a simplified and cost reduced system. Intended for the Heinkel He 162 and later aircraft. Did not have a direction finder capability or a Y control interface. Frequency Range was 42 to 48.3 MHz, FM & AM voice only. FuG 24Z included Y-Control and blind landing and Hermine beacon-receiving capability.
FuG 29: Development unit designed to work as receiver for the running commentary,- "Laufende Reportage" - that was transmitted from radio navigation stations to aid the day- and night- fighters participating in the defense of the Reich. Due to the high transmitting power of the transmitters, the signal was almost immune to interference from jamming. It was an AM receiver, with a frequency range of between 150 kHz and 6 MHz, with 6 push buttons preselected frequencies but details lacking and development was never completed.
Navigation and direction finding Peilgerät (PeilG) 6: Codenamed "Alex Sniatkowski", this was a long and medium range D/F set and homing device used mainly on bombers: Ar 234, Do 217, Ju 87, Ju 88A-4 on, Ju 188, Ju 290, Ju 388; the He 177A heavy bombers (Germany's only "heavy bomber" design in service), and both the He 219A and Ju 88G night fighter series are some of the aircraft types to be fitted. Frequency range was 150 to 1,200 kHz. A "flat" equivalent of a D/F loop was used for the Peilgerät device to reduce drag over a protruding D/F loop antenna, and made up of a series of metal strips in a "sunburst" pattern. often being fitted under a round, flush fitting plexiglass cover. A small "whip" aerial was also fitted to the FuG 10 radiomast. Manufactured by Telefunken. Version PeilG 5 was of similar performance but used a manually controlled loop antenna. Control was via an electric servo motor. Versions 1 - 4 had manual control either via cable linkage or direct control via an attached handle.
FuBL 2: Used the Knickebein beam navigation and bombing system. Consisted of the EBL 3 and EBL 2 receivers with display device ANF 2. The EBL 3 operated between 30 and 33 MHz and received 34 channels, The EBL 2 operated at 38 MHz and was unchanged from the FuBL 1 system. The AFN 2 provided the pilot with a left/right display and a signal strength. The unit was available in two versions FuBL 2 H for a unit operated by the radio operator and the FuBL 2 F for remote operation by the pilot in a single seat aircraft.`The primary difference between the EBL 1 and the EBL 3 was sensitivity to allow, what was basically a ILS system, to be used for bombing.
FuG 28a: Y-Gerät transponder. Based on the Fug17 transceiver with additional components to send the response to the Y-Gerät ground station for the ground station to derive range. Also derived the azimuth signal and displayed the results on the ANF 2 display giving the pilot a left/right command. Operating frequency 24 - 28 MHz. 8 Watts transmit power. The unit also interfaced to the FuG 10 system in the aircraft so that voice communication with the pilot from the ground controllers via the Fug 28a was possible.
Hermine: This system was a VHF radio beacon. Originally developed in 1942 due to problems the design was suspended. When in 1944 the existing radio navigation systems were either being jammed or under physical attack the design was revisited. It consisted of a rotating radio beacon transmitting at 30 -33 MHz. The signal consisted of a tone and a robot voice using FM. The robot voice was encoded onto an optical disk. The voice spoke a number between 1 and 35, corresponding to 10 degrees of angle from the beacon. The pilot listened to the signal, when the tone disappeared the next number corresponded to the angle from the beacon. It was expected that this would give an angular resolution of about 5 degrees but when tested it was found that some pilots could estimate to within 3 degrees. The receiver was a modified EBL 3 which had had its bandwidth increased and fitted with an FM interface board. This board also connected to the pilots audio via the Fug16 to send the audio information to the pilot. In single-seater aircraft the radio fit was numbered FuG 125. The beacon identifier was transmitted instead of the number 0. This allowed a pilot to select a particular beacon. Between 10 -20 beacons were commissioned by May 1945. 30 channels were available with 2 more being reserved for airfield ILS. Beacons were usually placed 20 km from a runway, The pilot would over fly the beacon and then circle until he acquired the ILS landing beam on the FuBL 2 equipment. Ground units were BS 15 navigation radio beacons constructed from rebuilt FuG 15 sets.
FuG120/FuG120k Bernhard: The "Bernhard/Bernhardine" system was a nightfighter/day fighter radio-navigation system. Primary intended to guide fighters into the bomber streams rather than against individual aircraft. The ground station (FuSAn 724/725) "Bernhard" was the VHF rotating directional-beacon ground-station. It continuously transmitted the station identifier and the antenna azimuth (bearing) in Hellschreiber-format. The FuG 120 "Bernhardine" was the airborne Hellschreiber system that prints the data stream from the selected Bernhard station. The HF receiver for the system was the EBL3 from the FuBL 2 ILS system. Operating Frequency: 30 - 33.1 MHz, Transmitter power: 2 × 500 Watt (FuSAn 724) or 2 x 5000 Watt (FuSAn 725). Antenna rotational speed: 12 degrees per second (2 revolutions per minute). Accuracy: initially ±1°, then improved to ±0.5°. The system was initially deployed in 1941/42 however work was stopped until 1944. Deployment was started to try and produce a "jam proof" system. A later version (deployed at about 3 sites) alternated between sending angular information and text message instructions which allowed a simple form of data link between the fighter direction stations and the fighters. FuG 120k: This version was developed as the original unit was bulky and expensive. In return for considerable reduction is size and weight azimuth measurement was reduced to approx. 4 degrees.