Technology developed by Edward Bowen was used in the Battle of Britain and Battle of the Atlantic.
A blue plaque will be placed outside the house in Cockett, Swansea, where the physicist lived as a child.
Born in 1911, Mr Bowen also helped develop radio astronomy in the United States and Australia. He died in 1991.
A radar pioneer who helped give the allies a crucial advantage in World War Two will be recognised in his home city.