Ground Control Radar

The volume of air traffic during the Berlin Airlift required careful coordination between the CALTF aircraft and Berlin’s airports. Mistakes resulted in either stacking aircraft above the runway or forcing them to return to their installations without having landed. Encroaching winter weather complicated the entire operation. If the airlift stalled in the winter months and failed to deliver the city’s needed supplies, it would validate the Soviet Union’s control over the whole city. To ensure planes could land despite bad weather, the British and Americans expanded the use of Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) radar units at Berlin’s airfields. GCA required mutual confidence between the system’s radar operators, who guided the aircraft to safe landings, and the pilots flying in the adverse weather. GCA units augmented the use of navigational radio beacons and ensured that the aircraft sent to Berlin landed and offloaded the needed supplies to Berliners.