Mechanic deep dive
Radar in Legends: every radar ship, charted by range and duration.
Surveillance Radar reveals every enemy ship inside its bubble for the full activation window, regardless of smoke, islands, or concealment. It is one of the most match-defining consumables in Legends and the single largest counter to destroyers and stealth cruisers. Here is every radar carrier in the game, what reach each one has, and how long the ping lasts.
The radar family at a glance
Each ship sits on the ring that matches its radar reach. Inner rings are short-range radars (8–9 km); the outermost ring is the long Soviet 13 km cruiser radar. The number under each ship name is the activation duration in seconds — the time the bubble stays lit after you press the button.
Every Legends ship that mounts Surveillance Radar, grouped by reach.
How radar actually works
When a radar carrier activates the consumable, every enemy ship inside the radar's range (measured from the carrier's hull) becomes visible to the entire team for the duration of the ability. The reveal ignores concealment, ignores smoke, and ignores line-of-sight blockers like islands. The only thing that breaks the reveal is leaving the radius before the duration ends.
Two numbers decide whether a radar is scary: range (how far the bubble reaches) and duration (how many seconds the enemy stays lit). A 13 km Soviet radar that lasts 20 seconds is a different threat to a 9 km radar that lasts 40 seconds. The first reveals targets earlier; the second guarantees that anyone caught inside has time to be deleted before the bubble fades.
What changes if you are the radar carrier
- Save it for caps and smoke pops, not panic. A burned radar in the opening minute is worth far less than the same charge held until the destroyer fight at the cap.
- Get inside your own range before pressing the button. If the target is just outside the bubble, you light up the ocean and nothing else.
- Range counts from your hull, not the bubble edge. Pushing 2 km closer adds 2 km of reveal on the far side.
- Coordinate with your DDs. A radar ping plus a torpedo wall in smoke is one of the cleanest combos in the game.
What changes if you are getting radared
- Know who has it. The diagram above is the full list. If none of the enemy line-up are on it, you can be braver about smoking up in cap.
- Smoke does not save you from radar. Range does. A smoked-up destroyer inside 10 km of a Baltimore is dead the moment the radar lights. The play is to be outside the bubble before the button is pressed.
- Pre-angle. If you are about to be revealed in a cruiser or BB, finish the turn that points your strongest armor at the radar carrier before the ping lands. The reveal does not change your armor model; positioning still pays off.
- Smoke + torpedoes is still a trade. If you spent the smoke and you know radar is incoming, drop your torpedo wall on the radar carrier's expected push line. They are committed to the radar bubble's center.
Reading the table
Range is the radius from your hull. Duration is the number of seconds enemies remain lit after the button is pressed. Charges is the number of times you can activate per match (no premium consumable assumed). Reload is the time between activations when more than one charge is mounted.
| Ship | Tier | Nation | Class | Range (km) | Duration (s) | Charges | Reload (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dm. Donskoi | 13 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| P. Bagration | 13 | 23 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Borodino | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Chapayev | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Kronshtadt | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Ochakov | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Petropavlovsk | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Riga | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Stalingrad | 13 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Brisbane | 11.67 | 25 | 2 | 120 | |||
| Minotaur | 11 | 40 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Plymouth | 11 | 40 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Constellation | 11 | 30 | 2 | 150 | |||
| Des Moines | 11 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Puerto Rico | 11 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Indianapolis | 11 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Indianapolis B | 11 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Giuseppe Verdi | 10.56 | 35 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Missouri | 10.56 | 35 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Rhode Island | 10.56 | 35 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Congress | 10.5 | 35 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Neptune | 10.5 | 35 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Seattle | 10 | 35 | 2 | 150 | |||
| Tulsa | 10 | 35 | 2 | 150 | |||
| AL Baltimore | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Alaska | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Albemarle | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Baltimore | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Belfast '43 | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Buffalo | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Cleveland | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Edinburgh | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Wichita CE | 10 | 30 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Worcester | 10 | 30 | 2 | 120 | |||
| Orkan | 10 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Gdańsk | 10 | 15 | 3 | 120 | |||
| Lazo | 10 | 15 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Shchors | 10 | 15 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Tallinn | 10 | 15 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Salem | 9.44 | 40 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Atlanta | 9.43 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Atlanta B | 9.43 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Belfast | 9.43 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Tiger '59 | 9.43 | 25 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Budyonny | 9 | 15 | 2 | 180 | |||
| L. Katsonis | 8.89 | 10 | 3 | 90 | |||
| Split | 8.89 | 10 | 3 | 90 | |||
| Halland | 8.33 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Småland | 8.33 | 20 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Black | 8.33 | 19 | 3 | 150 | |||
| Chung Mu | 8.33 | 17 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Gadjah Mada | 8.33 | 15 | 2 | 180 | |||
| Hsienyang | 8.33 | 15 | 2 | 180 |
Where this fits
Radar is one piece of the detection picture. If you want to understand how it interacts with concealment, smoke, and spotting, the rest of the mechanics live under the Codex. For a similar treatment of the Pan-American sonar mechanic, see Pan-American Cruisers: Why "Advanced Sonar" Changes How You Hunt.