A blind approach beacon system or beam approach beacon system (BABS) is an automatic radar landing system developed in the early 1940s. It is a responder (or transponder) mounted in a Hillman van and placed at the end of the runway. In some cases fixed sites were installed and by the mid-1950s Standard 9 vans were in use. It was interrogated by a Rebecca unit mounted in an aircraft. It responded by transmitting dots on one side of the runway and dashes on the other. The strength of the reception in the aircraft depended on the aircraft's position relative to the centre line of the runway. The aircraft's equipment could then determine its position relative to these dots and dashes.