Gee (navigation)

Gee was the code name given to a radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was the first hyperbolic navigation system to be used operationally.

Gee was devised by Robert Dippy and developed at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) at Swanage. Gee was originally designed as a short-range blind landing system to improve safety during night operations, but it developed into a long-range general navigation system. For large fixed targets, like the cities that were attacked at night, Gee offered enough accuracy to be used as an aiming reference without the need to use a bombsight or other external reference. Jamming reduced its usefulness, but it remained in use as a navigational aid throughout the war.

Gee remained an important part of the Royal Air Force's suite of navigation systems in the post-war era, and was featured on aircraft such as the English Electric Canberra and the V-bomber fleet. It also saw civilian use, and a number of new Gee chains were set up to support military and civil aviation across Europe. The system started to be shut down in the late 1960s, with the last station going off the air in 1970.