In his private suite Moreau remained awake.
It was nearly 3 a.m..
On the desk before him lay a ss 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 sothing 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 mont 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 co. 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 mories started resurfacing.
The Battle of Britain, where radar saw German bombers before they crossed the English Channel.
Where the British skies remained lit like dayti 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 rembered.
Pulse-modulated not continuous wave. Monostatic, yes sa antenna for transmitting and receiving.
They’d need a high-frequency source sowhere near 98 MHz, tunable.
He sketched a Yagi antenna four elents, horizontal polarization.
He wrote the codena 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 mory, but the details felt fragnted.
He realized he didn’t rember 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 beco 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 ters 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 rembered terms like "A-scope," gain control, audio headphone cues.
He wrote thodically.
Operators: commanding officer, 3 signal op rotating, 2 engineers, 2 electrical staff
Display: 7″ CRT A-scope, linear ti 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 improvents.
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.
Tiline
April. Prototype design & funding
May - June. Build prototype hardware bench-level
July. Initial tests at coastal site (Dieppe, Le Havre)
August. Adjustnts 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’Arnt."
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 parliantary oversight
Site security via prefectorial police & military guard
Cover story.
Early-warning acoustic detection or radio-telephony experint
He ran a hand through his hair, exhaled, and whispered.
"Galène, you will see the storm before it cos. 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.
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