Reincarnated: Vive La France
Chapter 244: RADAR modèle 37 "Galène" - I

Chapter 244: RADAR modèle 37 "Galène" - I

In his private suite Moreau remained awake.

It was nearly 3 a.m..

On the desk before him lay a mess of papers.

Strategic maps from the Council Chamber debate.

Moreau stood by the window.

He looked out at the dark rooftops of Paris with a expression as if seeing something beyond the city’s quiet streets.

He returned to the desk and flicked open a ledger-sized notebook.

He drew a straight line across the top of the page and wrote, in a precise hand.

RADAR modèle 37 "Galène".

A moment later he underlined it twice.

He sat, exhaled, and then leaned forward to begin writing.

"France" he thought.

"Has rebuilt its walls and yet, like ghosts beyond them, aircraft will come. France needs eyes before the guns open."

He began sketching a basic diagram.

Two blocks connected by arrows Transmitter and Receiver.

Within his mind, his own memories started resurfacing.

The Battle of Britain, where radar saw German bombers before they crossed the English Channel.

Where the British skies remained lit like daytime because their people had forewarning.

He thought of how France had known of radio-location in theory English Marconi papers, Polish efforts but never committed to constructing a network.

Questions remained on him.

Why had it never been built?

Who had resisted?

Finally, he began writing details he remembered.

Pulse-modulated not continuous wave. Monostatic, yes same antenna for transmitting and receiving.

They’d need a high-frequency source somewhere near 98 MHz, tunable.

He sketched a Yagi antenna four elements, horizontal polarization.

He wrote the codename quietly beside the drawing: "Galène" the mineral used in early radio detectors, chosen for discretion.

He took out another notepad and jotted a list.

Pulse width 10 μs, PRF ~500 Hz

Peak power ~120 kW (average ~600 W)

Superheterodyne receiver, IF at 30 MHz

CRT display, A-scope

Pulse-forming network, water-cooled triode tube

Yagi, 360° rotation at 6 rpm

Diesel generator, ~40 kW consumption, water-cooled transmitter

He paused. These numbers were all he could recover from memory, but the details felt fragmented.

He realized he didn’t remember the exact bandwidth of the receiver, nor the noise figure, nor the dynamic range.

He didn’t recall the elevation angle precisely or the beamwidth.

He shook his head and wrote in the margin.

Need physicist review.

Now, with budget allocated, he realized he must pivot part of it, redirect a small portion of the ₣15 billion earmarked for Military Readiness not from tanks or artillery, but toward R&D.

He wouldn’t tell anyone that he was building what would become standard by 1940 but he could begin funding a prototype for early radar.

He moved to a fresh page and drafted bullet points.

Project Justification.

Compensates for weakness in static defenses

Provides early warning for Luftwaffe bomber formations

Integrates into Maginot Line command via telephone/telegraph

Builds technical precedent for future mobile radar units

He circled "R&D focus" and wrote in smaller letters.

Ground-based early warning & gun-laying radar.

He paused again.

What about power?

He jotted.

Water-cooled triode oscillator, thyratron pulse modulator.

Maybe a Dutch or Philips QB-type tube.

He imagined the cooling required and wrote.

Closed-loop water cooling and air-cooled receiver.

Then he scribbled thermodynamics diagrams, radiator, auxiliary fans, generator shed.

His breathing slowed as he drew the technical drawing of the antenna mast 28 meters tall, reinforced guy-wired, with a horizontal Yagi array at the top.

He annotated.

Azimuth: 360° coverage

Rotation motor: belt-driven, variable-speed

Azimuth accuracy ±2°

Elevation fixed at 15° for optimal height

He paused again what about site footprint?

He noted.

Site plan:

Control cabin (10×6m, concrete)

Generator shed (6×6m)

Antenna clearance (100×100m)

Operators: 6–8 per shift plus technical staff

He remembered terms like "A-scope," gain control, audio headphone cues.

He wrote methodically.

Operators: commanding officer, 3 signal op rotating, 2 engineers, 2 electrical staff

Display: 7″ CRT A-scope, linear time base (1 μs ≈ 150 m), range calibration, manual plot

He paused.

After the map he inserted a new section header.

Detection Capabilities.

He listed.

Large bomber detection ~50 km

Fighter detection ~25–30 km

Altitude: 1,000–8,000 m

Range res ±500 m, Azimuth ±2°

Track up to 4 targets

He underlined Limitations.

No elevation discrimination

Target saturation >5 blips

Rotation delay in plotting

Fixed installation only

Then Future improvements.

B-scope

Triangulated plotting

Mobile version

AA fire control integration

IFF interrogation

Radar network geo-positioning

He realized the full technical architecture was too complex he needed collaboration.

He thought of French physicists.

The International Centre for Radio Waves at Sorbonne, the technicians at CSF, the laboratories once run by Pierre Weiss or Paul Langevin.

He thought of telephone engineers who created microwatt precision why could they not focus their skill on this?

He scribbled.

Approach scientists delicately, target advanced labs, present problem not solution. Seek R&D advisory group.

Then he reassessed, timing. He wrote.

Timeline

April. Prototype design & funding

May - June. Build prototype hardware bench-level

July. Initial tests at coastal site (Dieppe, Le Havre)

August. Adjustments and first detection

September. Commissioning systems

October. Build second site

November Initial network operating

He underlined commission preproduction in January 1938, just before growing tensions.

He then wrote.

Public budget line?

No.

Confidential schedule.

Classified "Direction Générale de l’Armement."

He folded over the top of the page.

Then he glanced at the empty wine glass.

He reached for it, drank and returned it to the table.

Then he opened a fresh sheet and wrote.

Security plan:

Classify as secret military research

Only Ministry of Defense, DGA, and Cabinet-level must know

Sealed orders, no ministerial briefing except Reynaud for finance.

No parliamentary oversight

Site security via prefectorial police & military guard

Cover story.

Early-warning acoustic detection or radio-telephony experiment

He ran a hand through his hair, exhaled, and whispered.

"Galène, you will see the storm before it comes. And France....France will learn to see it."

He closed his eyes.

Saw the invisible lines of enemy bombers traced like spider webs across radar arcs.

Saw France listening for the storm.

He whispered once more.

"France will see."

This is just the start.

Moreau knows deep in his heart.

If World War 2 happens.

It will happen on his own terms.