A Jewish scientist whose radar invention was considered so vital by the United States Government to its military defenses that it refused to allow him to patent it was yesterday awarded the Department of Defense Medal for distinguished public service for the invention.
Dr. Otto Halpern last year accepted $340,000 from the Government in settlement of his 18-year court fight to get a patent on the invention which helps United States planes and ships evade radar detection by potential enemies. The Government, in opposing Dr. Halpern’s patent bid, argued that granting of the patent would make public an invention which was still a military secret.
The invention is a material containing metallic flakes which absorb radar waves making ships and aircraft to which it is applied “invisible” to radar.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
