January 23, 1995, Solnechnogorsk city, SPRN command post. The “MISSILE ATTACK” sign lit up on the system monitoring console. The system recorded the launch of a Trident-class rocket. Trajectory analysis showed that the missile, if the charge is activated at altitude, can disable the early warning systems of early warning systems or can be aimed at the northern cities of the country. Ground early warning systems confirmed the launch. All strategic forces were put on full combat readiness. Bombers roll out onto the runway, missiles are aimed and ready to launch. A nuclear suitcase is open on the table in front of the President of the country.
The Supreme Commander immediately contacted the Minister of Defense. But the Minister of Defense, as a good military specialist, immediately determined that this could not be the beginning of the 3rd World War. If they decided to attack Us, they would start not with one missile, but with a hundred at once. One rocket can't do anything.
It later turned out that the system responded to the launch of the Norwegian meteorological satellite, information about which was lost in the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This was the first time the Kazbek system, known as the nuclear suitcase, was used.
The early warning system has been in use for about 30 years and has never had any failures. Many note that in 1985 the system also gave a signal of an attack, but then it itself admitted that the targets were false, so this cannot be considered a failure. The system is very complex and is still on combat duty.
History of creation
In 1961, the Americans tested the new intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman-1, which opened a new nuclear missile stage cold war. This missile had multiple warheads and camouflage systems.For a long time, the USSR created a missile defense system, which, as it turned out, was absolutely useless against new missiles. It was necessary to develop a new system to counter the impending threat. The Minister of Defense ordered that all prominent scientists be brought to one place where they could develop a new concept for defense against nuclear attack.
After 4 weeks the document was ready. Initially, two options for the development of systems to counter the threat were considered:
1. Counter tactics. The attack on the enemy was carried out after its missiles hit. This approach required a constant increase in the number of launchers and their strengthening. But this was a dead-end development, since with each generation of missiles their accuracy increased, which required the construction of deeper and more secure bunkers and launch complexes. Therefore, the choice was made on a different approach.
2. Counter strike. This approach meant that the missiles had to be released from the silos while the enemy missiles were in flight. Therefore, the country needed a missile launch detection system.
According to military experts, such a system should consist of several components:
1. Space. The tasks of which include detecting missile launches and identifying the aggressor country.
2. Ground. Formed along the perimeter of the country by ground-based radar stations. With their help, the threat of attack is finally confirmed.
Space component.
Oko system
Chief developer Central Research Institute "Kometa".The system consists of 12 satellites in highly elliptical orbits.
At the same time, 2 satellites must monitor the territory of a potential enemy.
The satellites have on board video and an infrared system for detecting rocket flares. The approval of the construction of such a system was due to chance. A satellite with an infrared detection complex was launched into low orbit. A rocket was supposed to launch from the cosmodrome, the launch of which was to be determined by a satellite. But the launch was postponed and the satellite designer was not informed about it. Having received data from orbit, the designer concluded that the launch had taken place, which he reported to management. They laughed at him. But the designer was confident in the equipment and went to the cosmodrome. It was confirmed to him that the rocket had not been launched, but he also found out that not far from the cosmodrome on the runway at that moment a jet plane was warming up its engines. Having performed the necessary calculations, it was concluded that in a highly elliptical orbit, the altitude of which is 36,000 km. the satellite will carry out its tasks, which was the start of the deployment of the Oko system.
In 1979, 4 satellites were launched into orbit. By 1982, 2 more and the system was put on combat duty.
Oko-1 system
A logical continuation of the Oko system. Chief developer of the Central Research Institute "Kometa".The satellites of this system were to be located in geostationary orbits. The deployment of the system began in 1991. From 1991 to 2008, 7 satellites were launched. In 1996, the system was put into service and put on combat duty.
EKS system
Unified space system. Testing began in 2009. It is not known for certain how many satellites were launched into orbit. The system involves combining the Oko, Oko-1 and new satellite systems into a single complex.Current state of affairs
There are 3 satellites of the Oko system, 7 satellites of the Oko-1 system and approximately 2 satellites of the EKS system in working order in orbit.Ground component
The Daryal complex has already been written about. I'll tell you a little about other stations.Volga type radar
The Volga radar is designed to detect ballistic missiles and space objects in flight at a distance of up to 5000 km, as well as track, identify and measure the coordinates of targets with subsequent delivery of information about the state of the airspace to the Central Command and Computing Center of the early warning system.
Its construction began in 1981 in Belarus, when 180 American Pershing-2 missiles were based in Germany and Italy. After their withdrawal from Europe, the construction of the station was mothballed, since the construction of the Daryal-type station in Latvia was coming to an end. But after it was blown up in 1995, it was decided to complete the construction of a Volga-type station in Belarus.
On December 15, 1999, factory tests of the Volga radar began, in 2002 it was accepted into service with the Space Forces, and in 2003 it was put on combat duty in the missile attack warning system.
Don-2n
One of the most complex, most highly protected objects. The Don-2N multifunctional all-round radar is designed to detect ballistic targets at an altitude of up to 40,000 km, track them, determine coordinates and guide anti-missile missiles. The only working and effective missile defense system in the world.
The Don-2N radar confirmed its high combat capabilities during the joint Russian-American experiment Oderaks to track small space objects, when spaceship The Shuttle in 1994 threw metal balls with a diameter of 5.10 and 15 centimeters into outer space. US radars were able to track only 10 and 15 cm balls, and the five-centimeter ball was only tracked by the Don 2N radar at a range of 1500-2000 km. After detecting targets, the station tracks them, automatically tunes out interference and selects false targets.
Voronezh type radar
Over-horizon early warning radar station of high factory readiness. Developed by the Research Institute of Long-Range Radio Communications. There is a station designed for the meter wavelength range - “Voronezh-M”, and for the decimeter wavelength - “Voronezh-DM”. A special feature of the facility is a significantly shorter deployment time to a new location and the possibility of relocating the station if necessary.
In 2006 deployed to Leningrad region, took up combat duty in 2009.
In 2009 deployed to Krasnodar region.
In the future, complexes should be deployed to replace radars located outside Russian territory.
Perimeter system
Known in America as the "Dead Hand". Soviet doomsday weapon.Only scattered facts are known about this system. Many believe that the existence of such a system is impossible, while others, on the contrary, argue that the system is still functioning and is on combat duty.
At its core, the Perimeter system is an alternative command system for all branches of the military armed with nuclear warheads. It was created as a backup communications system in case the key nodes of the Kazbek command system and the Strategic Missile Forces communications lines were destroyed. The entire system operates without human intervention.Operating principle of the system:
The system's command posts (CPS) monitor sensor readings based on a number of parameters to determine whether a nuclear strike has been launched on the country. If so, the system was trying to contact key command posts. If the connection cannot be established, the system makes a decision about the beginning of the “doomsday”. Signal flares are launched from several silos, which, flying over the country, transmit commands to launch ALL available nuclear charges: silo-based missiles, sea-based missiles, mobile-based missiles.
In addition to the main algorithm of the system, there is a countdown algorithm. When the system is set to this mode, the countdown begins. If confirmation of the regime reset is not received before the end of the countdown, “doomsday” begins.
The system is completely autonomous, that is, all stages of work are automated, even the stages of launching rockets.
Facts about the system:
1. Signal flares and automatic launch systems were tested and passed them successfully. In addition, the first experimental launch of the Satan rocket was carried out precisely by this system.
2. It is reliably known about the existence of at least 4 autonomous CPS points disguised as ordinary air defense system bunkers.
3. The system was put on combat duty in 1985.
According to the START-1 treaty, Russia was supposed to remove the system from combat duty. Although the contract has already expired, the state of the system is not known for certain. According to some reports, she was again put on combat duty in 2001.
The missile attack warning system (MAWS) belongs to strategic defense on a par with missile defense, space control and counter-space defense systems. Currently, early warning systems are part of the Aerospace Defense Forces as the following structural units - a missile defense division (as part of the Air and Missile Defense Command), the Main Missile Attack Warning Center and the Main Space Situation Intelligence Center (as part of the Space Command).
Russian early warning system consists of:
- first (space) echelon - a group of spacecraft designed to detect ballistic missile launches from anywhere on the planet;
- the second echelon, consisting of a network of ground-based long-range (up to 6000 km) detection radars, including the Moscow missile defense radar.
SPACE ECHELON
Warning system satellites located in space orbit continuously monitor the earth's surface, using an infrared matrix with low sensitivity, record the launch of each ICBM according to the emitted torch and immediately transmit information to the early warning control command post.
Currently, there is no reliable data on the composition of the Russian early warning satellite constellation in open sources.
As of October 23, 2007, the early warning system orbital constellation consisted of three satellites. There was one US-KMO in geostationary orbit (Kosmos-2379 launched into orbit on August 24, 2001) and two US-KS in a highly elliptical orbit (Cosmos-2422 launched into orbit on July 21, 2006, Kosmos-2430 launched into orbit on October 23, 2007 ).
On June 27, 2008, Kosmos-2440 was launched. On March 30, 2012, another satellite of this series, Cosmos-2479, was launched into orbit.
Russian early warning satellites are considered very outdated and do not fully comply modern requirements. Back in 2005, senior military officials did not hesitate to criticize both the satellites of this type and the system as a whole. The then deputy commander of the space forces for armaments, General Oleg Gromov, speaking in the Federation Council, said: “We cannot even restore in orbit the minimum required composition of the missile attack warning system devices due to the launches of hopelessly outdated satellites 71X6 and 73D6.”
GROUND ECHELON
Now in service Russian Federation There are a number of early warning stations that are controlled from the headquarters in Solnechnogorsk. There are also two checkpoints in the Kaluga region, near the village of Rogovo and not far from Komsomolsk-on-Amur on the shore of Lake Hummi.
Google Earth satellite image: the main early warning control station in the Kaluga region
The 300-ton antennas installed here in radio-transparent domes continuously monitor a constellation of military satellites in highly elliptical and geostationary orbits.
Google Earth satellite image: spare early warning control post near Komsomolsk
At the control center of the early warning system, continuous processing of information received from spacecraft and ground stations, with its subsequent transfer to headquarters in Solnechnogorsk.
View of the emergency early warning control center from Lake Hummi
Three radar stations were located directly on Russian territory: “Dnepr-Daugava” in the city of Olenegorsk, “Dnepr-Dnestr-M” in Michelevka and the “Daryal” station in Pechora. In Ukraine, the Dneprs remained in Sevastopol and Mukachevo, the operation of which was abandoned by the Russian Federation due to the too high cost of rent and the technical obsolescence of the radar. It was also decided to abandon the operation of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan. Here, the stumbling block was attempts at blackmail on the part of Azerbaijan and a multiple increase in rental costs. This decision of the Russian side caused a shock in Azerbaijan. For the budget of this country, rent was no small help. The work of maintaining the radar station was the only source of income for many local residents.
Google Earth satellite image: Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan
The position of the Republic of Belarus is exactly the opposite; the Volga radar was provided to the Russian Federation for 25 years of free operation. In addition, the Window node operates in Tajikistan (part of the Nurek complex).
A notable addition to early warning systems at the end of the 90s was the construction and adoption (1989) of the Don-2N radar in the town of Pushkino near Moscow, which replaced the Danube-type stations.
Radar "Don-2N"
Being a missile defense station, it is also actively used in the missile attack warning system. The station is a truncated regular pyramid, on all four sides of which there are round phased arrays with a diameter of 16 m for tracking targets and anti-missiles and square (10.4x10.4 m) phased arrays for transmitting guidance commands on board the anti-missiles. When repelling attacks from ballistic missiles, the radar is capable of conducting combat operation in an autonomous mode, regardless of the external situation, and in peacetime conditions - in a mode of low emitted power to detect objects in space.
Google Earth satellite image: Moscow missile defense radar "Don-2N"
The ground component of the Missile Attack Warning System (MAWS) is radars that monitor outer space. Detection radar of the "Daryal" type is an over-the-horizon radar of the missile attack warning system (MAWS).
Radar "Daryal"
Development has been carried out since the 1970s, and the station was put into operation in 1984.
Google Earth satellite image: Daryal radar
Daryal-type stations should be replaced by a new generation of Voronezh radar stations, which are being built in a year and a half (previously it took from 5 to 10 years).
The latest Russian radars of the Voronezh family are capable of detecting ballistic, space and aerodynamic objects. There are options operating in the meter and decimeter wavelength range. The basis of the radar is a phased antenna array, a prefabricated module for personnel and several containers with electronic equipment, which allows you to quickly and inexpensively modernize the station during operation.
AAR radar Voronezh
The adoption of Voronezh into service allows not only to significantly expand the capabilities of missile and space defense, but also to concentrate the ground group of the missile attack warning system on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Google Earth satellite image: Voronezh-M radar, Lekhtusi village, Leningrad region (object 4524, military unit 73845)
The high degree of factory readiness and the modular principle of constructing the Voronezh radar made it possible to abandon multi-story structures and build it within 12-18 months (previous generation radars came into operation in 5-9 years). All containerized station equipment is delivered from manufacturing plants to subsequent assembly sites on a pre-concrete site. When installing the Voronezh station, 23-30 units of technological equipment are used (Daryal radar - more than 4000), it consumes 0.7 MW of electricity (Dnepr - 2 MW, Daryal in Azerbaijan - 50 MW), and the number no more than 15 people serving it.
To cover areas potentially dangerous from a missile attack, it is planned to put 12 radars of this type on combat duty. The new radar stations will operate in both the meter and decimeter ranges, which will expand the capabilities of the Russian missile attack warning system. The Russian Ministry of Defense intends to completely replace, within the framework of the state armament program until 2020, all Soviet radars for early detection of missile launches.
The Project 1914 measuring complex (KMC) ships are designed to track objects in space.
KIK "Marshal Krylov"
Initially, it was planned to build 3 ships, but only two were included in the fleet - the KIK "Marshal Nedelin" and the KIK "Marshal Krylov" (built according to a modified project 1914.1). The third ship, Marshal Biryuzov, was dismantled on the slipway. The ships were actively used both for testing ICBMs and for escorting space objects. The KIK "Marshal Nedelin" was withdrawn from the fleet in 1998 and dismantled for metal. KIK "Marshal Krylov" is currently part of the fleet and is used for its intended purpose, based in Kamchatka in the village of Vilyuchinsk.
Google Earth satellite image: KIK “Marshal Krylov” in Vilyuchinsk
With the advent of military satellites capable of performing multiple roles, the need for systems for their detection and control has arisen. Such complex systems were necessary to identify foreign satellites, as well as provide accurate orbital parametric data for the use of PKO weapon systems. The “Window” and “Krona” systems are used for this.
The Window system is a fully automated optical tracking station. Optical telescopes scan the night sky while computer systems analyze the results and filter out stars based on analysis and comparison of velocities, luminosities and trajectories. The satellites' orbital parameters are then calculated, monitored and recorded. "Window" can detect and track satellites orbiting the Earth at altitudes from 2,000 to 40,000 kilometers. This, together with radar systems, has increased the capabilities of observing outer space. Radars of the "Dniester" type were not able to track satellites located in high geostationary orbits.
The development of the Window system began in the late 1960s. By the end of 1971, prototypes of optical systems intended for use in the Window complex were tested at an observatory in Armenia. Preliminary design work were completed in 1976. The construction of the “Window” system near the city of Nurek (Tajikistan) in the Khodzharki village area began in 1980. By mid-1992, the installation of electronic systems and parts of the optical sensors was completed. Unfortunately, the civil war in Tajikistan interrupted this work. They resumed in 1994. The system passed operational tests at the end of 1999 and was put on combat duty in July 2002.
The main facility of the Window system consists of ten telescopes covered by large folding domes. The telescopes are divided into two stations, with a detection complex containing six telescopes. Each station has its own control center. A smaller eleventh dome is also present. His role is not disclosed in open sources. It may contain some kind of measuring equipment used to assess atmospheric conditions before activating the system.
Google Earth satellite image: elements of the Window complex near the city of Nurek, Tajikistan
The construction of four Okno complexes was envisaged in various locations throughout the USSR and in friendly countries such as Cuba. In practice, the “Window” complex was implemented only in Nurek. There were also plans to build auxiliary Okno-S complexes in Ukraine and the eastern part of Russia. In the end, work began only on the eastern "Window-S", which should be located in the Primorsky Territory.
Google Earth satellite image: elements of the Okno-S complex in Primorye
"Window-S" is a high-altitude optical surveillance system. The Okno-S complex is designed for monitoring at altitudes between 30,000 and 40,000 kilometers, which makes it possible to detect and observe geostationary satellites that are located over a wider area. Work on the Okno-S complex began in the early 1980s. It is unknown whether this system was completed and brought to combat readiness.
The Krona system consists of a long-range detection radar and an optical tracking system. It is designed to identify and track satellites. The Krona system is able to classify satellites by type. The system consists of three main components:
UHF phased array radar for target identification
-Centimeter-wave radar with parabolic antenna for target classification
-Optical system combining an optical telescope with a laser system
The Krona system has a range of 3,200 kilometers and can detect targets in orbit at altitudes of up to 40,000 kilometers.
Development of the Krona system began in 1974, when it was determined that current spatial tracking systems could not accurately determine the type of satellite being tracked.
The centimeter-wave radar system is designed for precise orientation and guidance of the optical-laser system. The laser system was designed to provide illumination for the optical system that captures images of tracked satellites at night or in clear weather.
The location for the Krona facility in Karachay-Cherkessia was chosen taking into account favorable meteorological factors and low dust levels in the atmosphere in the area.
Construction of the Krona facility began in 1979 near the village of Storozhevaya in southwestern Russia. The facility was originally planned to be located together with the observatory in the village of Zelenchukskaya, but concerns about the creation of mutual interference with such close placement of objects led to the relocation of the Krona complex to the area of the village of Storozhevaya.
The construction of capital structures for the Krona complex in this area was completed in 1984, but factory and state tests dragged on until 1992.
Before the collapse of the USSR, it was planned to use MiG-31D fighter-interceptors armed with 79M6 Kontakt missiles (with a kinetic warhead) as part of the Krona complex to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. After the collapse of the USSR, 3 MiG-31D fighters went to Kazakhstan.
Google Earth satellite image: centimeter range radar and optical-laser part of the Krona complex
State acceptance tests were completed by January 1994. Because of financial difficulties The system was put into trial operation only in November 1999. As of 2003, work on the optical-laser system had not been fully completed due to financial difficulties, but in 2007 it was announced that the Krona was put on combat duty.
Google Earth satellite image: decimeter radar with a phased array antenna of the Krona complex
Initially, during Soviet times, it was planned to build three Krona complexes. The second Krona complex was to be located next to the Okno complex in Tajikistan. Construction of the third complex began near Nakhodka on Far East. Due to the collapse of the USSR, work on the second and third complexes was suspended. Later, work in the Nakhodka area was resumed, this system was completed in simplified version. The system in the Nakhodka area is sometimes called “Krona-N”; it is represented only by a decimeter radar with a phased array antenna. Work on the construction of the Krona complex in Tajikistan has not resumed.
Radar stations of the missile attack warning system, the Okno and Krona complexes allow our country to conduct operational control of outer space, timely identify and counter possible threats, and give a timely and adequate response in the event of possible aggression. These systems serve to carry out various military and civilian missions, including collecting information about “space debris” and calculating safe orbits for operating spacecraft. The operation of the "Window" and "Krona" space monitoring systems plays an important role in the field of national defense and international space exploration.
The article presents materials obtained from open sources, a list of which is indicated. All satellite images courtesy of Google Earth.
Sources
http://geimint.blogspot.ru/search/label/ICBM
http://bastion-karpenko.narod.ru/SPRN.html
http://www.arms-expo.ru/049051051056124050056052048.html
A brief history of the creation of a domestic missile attack warning system
November 1976 in the history of the development of the missile attack warning system (MAWS) was marked by an event that experts know about, and even not all of them. It was this month, on the eve of the celebration of the Great October Revolution, that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR L.I. Brezhnev, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee A.P. Kirilenko, USSR Minister of Defense D.F. Ustinov and Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces V.G. Kulikov received so-called “nuclear suitcases”. In fact, these were wearable elements of the Crocus warning complex, which were duplicates of larger information elements located in the offices of the country's top leadership and some departments, as well as at control points of the Supreme High Command and the commands of all branches of the country's Armed Forces.
The article, based on information from open sources, briefly outlines the history of the creation of a missile attack warning system, which, based on processing a huge amount of information from various detection means and isolating the necessary data, should issue a reliable “Missile attack” signal to the military-political leadership of the country.
Background and reasons for the creation of early warning systems
After the end of World War II (1939-1945), the rapid development of science and technology led to the creation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and spacecraft, with their subsequent adoption into service. From a military point of view, they had great capabilities to strike enemy territory and conduct various types reconnaissance from space. The question of providing effective counteraction to them arose with all urgency. In the first 15-20 post-war years The explosive development of aviation and rocket and space technology has led to serious discussions by the military leadership of countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain about numerous projects of manned and automatic space attack weapons, aerospace and hypersonic bombers. However, over time, it became clear that a whole range of problems are associated with the implementation of such projects.
First Of these, the most understandable was the problem of combating the warheads of ICBMs (by analogy with aircraft). However, in order to timely intercept a missile (warhead) in the air (before completing the assigned task and hitting the designated object), it was necessary to detect it at a range that ensures timely assignment of tasks to fire weapons. And this, in turn, required the availability of long-range detection means. To solve this problem in 1961, General Designer V.N. Chelomey proposed creating a satellite early detection system. At that time, OKB-52, headed by him, was working on two space projects for military purposes - the IS anti-satellite system ("satellite fighter") and the controlled reconnaissance satellite (US). The lack of ability to deploy ground-based (ship and airborne) reconnaissance assets near US borders contributed to support for the proposal to deploy a space-based system. On December 30, 1961, a decree was issued on the creation of a space early warning system for the mass launch of ICBMs. OKB-52 was appointed as the lead executor of this project, and KB-1 A.A. was appointed as the executor of work on the control complex. Unraveling.
Second, An even more difficult problem was the task of timely detection and possible destruction of military spacecraft, the first of which were reconnaissance satellites. However, in order to destroy a target satellite, it was necessary to detect it and determine its coordinates, launch the interceptor satellite into orbit, bring it to the required distance from the target and detonate its warhead. The command-measuring complexes of the Main Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) could not provide such accuracy of action against satellite targets. This problem was supposed to be solved by the OS system (satellite detector).
Third the problem was the need for the earliest possible detection of the launch of enemy missiles, which is fundamentally different from the problem of long-range detection of warheads within the framework of a missile defense system (ABM). Therefore, to solve these problems, the missile attack warning system uses early warning radars, combined into RO nodes, and the missile defense system uses long-range detection radars. Subsequently, the basis of early warning systems became units with long-range (line-of-sight) over-the-horizon radars, which ensure detection of a target after it appears above the radio horizon. In the USA, such radars are located at 3 posts deployed in the first half of the 1960s. in Alaska, Greenland and the UK as part of the BEAMYUS mid-trajectory detection system. Due to geographical reasons in the USSR, it was decided to supplement the space-based system with several over-the-horizon radar stations (ZG radars), using the effect of reflecting a radio beam from the ionosphere and bending it around earth's surface. This idea was formulated for the first time in the world in 1947. Researcher NII-16 N.I. Kabanov, and to confirm it, a pilot plant was built in Mytishchi. Practical implementation overseas location in the USSR is associated with the name of E.S. Shtyren, who did not know about Kabanov’s discovery and at the end of the 1950s. made a proposal for detecting aircraft at ranges of 1000-3000 km, in January 1961 he presented a report on the Duga research project. It recorded the results of calculations and experimental studies on the reflective surfaces of aircraft, missiles and the high-altitude trace of the latter, and also proposed a method for isolating a weak signal from a target against the background of powerful reflections from the earth’s surface. The work received a positive assessment and recommendations were made to confirm the theoretical results with practical experiments.
Fourth the problem, also very complex, was the rapid increase in the number of objects in outer space. Satellite detection (OS), early warning (EO) and 3G radar systems must operate on “their” specific targets and not be detected by others, which could only be ensured if there is a constant record of all space objects. There was a need to create a special space control service (SSC), which was supposed to create and maintain a catalog of space objects, which would provide knowledge about potentially dangerous spacecraft and the emergence of new ones. Awareness of these and other problems of missile and space defense by the country's top leadership led to the issuance of two Resolutions of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers dated November 15, 1962: “On the creation of a detection and target designation system for the IS system, missile attack warning means and an experimental complex of ultra-long-range launch detection means BR, nuclear explosions and aircraft beyond the horizon" and "On the creation of a domestic KKP service."
Space echelon early warning system
The main initiator of the creation of an early detection system for enemy ICBMs using satellites in 1961 was General Designer V.N. Chelomey. At the end of 1962, a preliminary project was completed, according to which such a system included 20 satellites evenly spaced in one polar orbit at an altitude of 3,600 km for round-the-clock monitoring of US territory. According to the developers, satellites weighing 1400 kg with infrared sensors were supposed to detect launched missiles by the torch of the first stage engines. In addition to reconnaissance satellites, the system included launch vehicles of the UR-200 type, a relay satellite and a combat launch complex.
However, according to the calculations of some experts, instead of 20, 28 or more spacecraft (SV) were required for constant observation. In addition, the operating time of these spacecraft in orbit during that historical period did not exceed one month. The system available at the beginning of the 1960s did not stand up to criticism either. heat direction finding equipment, which does not provide a sufficient level of useful signal against the background of noise from the underlying surface and the propagation medium, as well as insufficient knowledge of many issues (characteristics of the atmosphere, parameters of the flares of the Atlas, Titan, Minuteman ICBMs, etc.). Similar studies were started only in 1963 at the Baikonur, Kura and Balkhash test sites. The severity of the problem was such that during preliminary design the designers abandoned IR detection in favor of TV-based detection. After his removal in 1964, V.N. Chelomey from project management became KB-1, and A.I. was appointed chief designer. Savin, and instead of the UR-200, the carrier was determined to be the Cyclone-2 developed by the Yangel Design Bureau.
In 1965, the US-K low-orbit system project with eighteen spacecraft in orbit was completed and initially approved by the Ministry of Defense. However, KB-1 specialists were increasingly inclined to favor highly elliptical orbits. In this case, the satellite at apogee seems to hover for several hours over one area of the earth's surface, which makes it possible to reduce the number of spacecraft several times.
The expediency of this was confirmed by the experience of American specialists. Having spent time and money on the MIDAS low-orbit satellite system, the United States abandoned it and in 1971 began work on deploying the IMEWS system, which by 1975 had 3 satellites in geostationary orbit. It was believed that they would be sufficient to monitor launches from the territory of the USSR and control the ocean zone around the North American continent. Ultimately, taking into account the US's own calculations and experience, it was concluded that it was advisable to place satellites in geostationary orbit, despite the possible difficulties with respect to the use of reconnaissance sensors from an altitude of about 40,000 km. In 1968, the design bureau of the Lavochkin plant, in cooperation with the Central Research Institute "Kometa", began developing a project for a high-orbit space system for monitoring rocket launches.
According to this project, the US-K high-orbit system was to include a command post with a control and information receiving station (SUPI) and 4 spacecraft in elongated elliptical orbits with an apogee altitude of about 40,000 km and an inclination of 63 degrees. to the equator. With an orbital period of 12 hours, each satellite could observe for 6 hours, followed by charging the batteries from solar panels for 6 hours. For the first time, a high-speed radio link was provided for the rapid transmission of information to ground points.
The first apparatus for testing techniques new system(“Cosmos-520”) was launched into orbit in September 1972. It and those that followed it were equipped with infrared and television detection devices. The third device in this series (“Cosmos-665”) with television equipment on December 24, 1972 recorded the launch of the Minuteman BMR in night conditions. However, this did not become the basis for the final choice of the type of surveillance equipment. Over time, the tasks were repeatedly revised, and the ideology of the system evolved.
At first it was planned to use an infrared telescope against the background of the earth's surface to detect launching rockets. However, due to the presence of significant interference, it was decided to position the satellites in orbit so that they would observe against the background of outer space. However, when the sun hit the lens, it led to illumination of the field of view and failure of the equipment for some time. To neutralize possible consequences, in 1972 it was decided to place an additional satellite in geostationary orbit. However, the limited capabilities of solar panels at that time ensured its operation for 6 hours, and the rest of the time the batteries were recharged.
As a result, the need arose to double the set of satellites in elliptical orbits, and in its final form the system was supposed to include 9 devices. As part of the work on this system, in 1976, Kosmos-862 was launched into orbit from the first on-board computer in the USSR on integrated circuits. In 1978, the space echelon of the early warning system consisted of 5 devices in highly elliptical orbits, but the testing of the control and information receiving station equipment, as well as its processing equipment, was not completed. Due to a possible delay in deadlines and a real threat to the existence of the program, it was decided to accept the US-K system with spacecraft equipped with heat direction finding sensors in January 1979 for trial joint operation by the Ministry of Defense and manufacturing enterprises with parallel development of the system and its development before staffing level KA until the end of 1981.
The service life of the first series of satellites did not exceed 3 months, in the subsequent series - 3 years. This required significant costs to maintain a group of the required composition (the American Imeyus-2 devices operated in orbit for 5-7 years). Therefore, during the entire period of development and operation of the US-K system and its further version US-KS, about 80 satellites were in orbit. By the time the group of spacecraft of the space echelon early warning system was brought to full strength, the cost of its creation and operation had increased three times compared to what was planned. However, the system was gradually brought to the required level and on April 5, 1979 it became part of the missile attack warning army. In July of the same year, she recorded the launch of the carrier from Kwajalein Atoll, already in automatic operation mode. In 1980, 6 satellites were launched into elliptical orbits, and the system itself was coupled with early warning systems. By 1982, an indicator was obtained false alarms, which exceeded standard indicators terms of reference and on December 30 of this year, the space system with 6 satellites entered combat duty.
Space Control Center(TsKKP) was an important element of the early warning system and, according to the project, was supposed to perform two main tasks - to interact informationally with the means of the anti-satellite defense system and maintain the Main Catalog of Space Objects. Its commissioning was planned by consistently increasing the capacity, number and types of detection nodes involved and improving algorithms for processing large flows of information about the space situation. The construction of its main elements in the Noginsk region began in 1966, and already at the beginning of 1968 the Central Control Commission began to receive information from two Dniester cells of the OS-2 satellite detection system node in Gulshad. Since January 1967, the TsKKP became a separate military unit (on March 5, 1970, it was transferred to the command of the missile defense and anti-aircraft defense forces).
From the beginning of 1969, the Central Control Commission was officially transferred to the functions of space control, which had previously been assigned to the 45 research institutes of the Ministry of Defense. In the same year, state tests of the first stage of the TsKKP took place as part of a computer complex based on one computer, a data transmission line and one operator workstation. Taking into account the radar posts and optical observation points (POP) operating as part of the Central Control Commission, its capabilities at this stage made it possible to process about 4,000 radar and about 200 optical measurements every day and maintain a catalog of 500 space objects.
In 1973, the second stage of development of the TsKKP began, during which it was planned to commission a computer complex with a capacity of about 2 million operations per second, as well as its integration with the Dnestr-M PRN radar and the Danube-3 missile defense radar. At this stage, on February 15, 1975, the Central Control Commission took up combat duty. According to its capabilities, the Center was capable of processing up to 30 thousand measurements per day with a capacity of the main catalog of up to 1800 objects. Along with the main task, the Central Control Commission provided solutions to other problems. In particular, it was involved in supporting the flights of domestic spacecraft in conditions of the rapid increase in “space debris” in near-Earth orbits, of which at that time there were already more than 3000 fragments with dimensions of 10 cm or more.
Subsequently, the Central Control Commission was re-equipped with a new Elbrus computer, which significantly expanded the range of tasks it could solve. In addition to the indicated sources of information, it became capable of receiving and processing information from the electro-optical complex "Window" and the radio-optical complex "Krona". Its capabilities and structure changed, which was due to a change in the structure of the space control system, as well as the involvement of the Center to carry out general civilian tasks.
Ground echelon early warning system
The first developments of satellite detection (OS) and missile attack warning (RA) systems as components rocket and space defense (RKO) in the Soviet Union began in the 50s. after the advent of satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles. During the same period, the Radiotechnical Institute (RTI) of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A.L. Mintsa began developing the first domestic radar "Dniester" (estimated detection range up to 3250 km), which was intended to detect attacking ICBMs and space objects. After the completion of field testing of a prototype of this radar in July 1962, a decision was made (11/15/1962) to create 4 similar radars on the Kola Peninsula (Olenegorsk), in Latvia (Skrunda), near Irkutsk (Mishelevka) and in Kazakhstan ( Balkhash). The location of the radar in this way made it possible to control potentially dangerous directions and track ICBM launches from the Atlantic, from the Norwegian and North seas and territory North America in the northwest direction, as well as from the west coast of the USA and from the Indian and Pacific oceans to southeast direction. Under construction since the late 1960s. Along the perimeter of the state border of the USSR, the first early warning stations "Dnestr" and "Dnepr" were supposed to create a continuous radar barrier with a length of more than 5000 km.
At the same time, a command post was created in the Moscow region, connected by communication lines with the Baikonur cosmodrome, where at that time an anti-space defense complex was being built, an important element of which was the maneuvering spacecraft developed by OKB-52 and launched into orbit from Baikonur on November 1, 1963. After the transfer of work on this topic to the Design Bureau of the Lavochkin plant, their first device, officially named “Cosmos-185”, was launched on October 27, 1967 by a “Cyclone-2A” rocket designed by Yangel. Already on November 1, 1968, the Cosmos-252 satellite approached the estimated distance to the Cosmos-248 satellite and carried out the first successful space interception. In August 1970, a space target was intercepted while the full complement of standard IS complex equipment was operating, and in December 1972 its state tests were completed. In February 1972, a government decree mandated the development of the IS-M complex with an expanded interception zone (for the IS system, this zone included orbits with an altitude of 120 to 1000 km). In November 1978, it was put into service, and the Kometa Central Research Institute began developing the IS-MU to intercept maneuvering targets.
To control the interceptor satellite, a command and measurement complex (KIP, KB-1) was developed, which consisted of a radio engineering complex (RTC) and a main command and computing center (MCCC). There were two opinions regarding the construction of the RTC, which was due to the difficulty of determining the trajectory of the spacecraft, which circled the Earth in radio silence in low orbit in 55 minutes. At the same time, the satellite was in the visibility zone of any ground-based radar for only 10 minutes, which was not enough to obtain data of the required accuracy, and there might not have been time to detect the spacecraft on subsequent orbits.
According to one opinion, it was possible to accurately determine the trajectory parameters of the target spacecraft on the very first orbit by obtaining information from large quantity OS nodes on the territory of the USSR. However, this involved a very large amount of construction and installation work and associated costs. Therefore, a method was used where five antennas were placed crosswise at one point (one in the center and four on the sides at a distance of 1 km from the central one). The resulting Doppler interferometer ensured that the required accuracy was achieved at significantly lower costs.
In the course of work on the creation of early warning systems, it was found that the same radar equipment can provide determination of satellite trajectories and over-the-horizon detection of enemy ICBMs. As a result, it was decided to return to the meter range radar TsSO-P, previously proposed by A.L. Mints. At the same time (December 1961), autonomous tests of this radar were carried out in Balkhash, confirming the possibility of its use as a base station for building an OS system.
The basis for starting work on the creation of a long-range detection radar (DL) in 1954 was a special decision of the USSR Government to develop proposals for the creation of a missile defense (ABM) of Moscow. Its most important elements were considered to be radars, which at a distance of several thousand kilometers were supposed to detect enemy missiles and warheads and determine their coordinates with high accuracy. In 1956, the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On Missile Defense” by A.L. Mintsa was appointed one of the chief designers of the DO radar, and in the same year, research began in Kazakhstan on the reflective parameters of ballistic missile warheads launched from the Kapustin Yar test site.
The basis of the OS system was two nodes separated by 2000 km, creating a radar field through which the bulk of satellites flying over the territory of the USSR must pass. The leading node OS-1 in the Irkutsk region solved the problem of detecting and determining the coordinates of satellites with subsequent transmission of information to the command and measuring point (KIP, Noginsk region), designed to recognize objects, determine the degree of their danger and solve the interception problem.
The probability of detecting a satellite already on the first orbit met the specified requirements, however, the accuracy of determining the characteristics of its trajectory, taking into account the possible range of the interceptor homing head, did not exceed 0.5. To increase it, a two-orbit method was used, in which the “satellite fighter” launched after the first passage of the target over OS-1, which clarified the coordinates of the IS, and the OS-2 node (Gulshad) clarified the coordinates of the target’s orbit. These data were received by the instrumentation control system, which processed them and transmitted them in the form of commands on board the interceptor for additional maneuvering and entry of the IS into the range of its seeker for the purpose of subsequent homing and destruction of enemy spacecraft. In this case, the probability of hitting the target reached 0.9-0.95.
Thus, nodes OS-1 and OS-2 should have had stations of the polygon TsSO-P type. Taking into account known characteristics of this radar, each of the nodes of the OS system was supposed to consist of eight sector stations, the integrated coverage area of which was a fan of 160 degrees. During further work a new (intermediate) radar cell based on two radars appeared as part of the OS node "Dniester" , united by a common computer and display, control and technological support equipment.
Construction at the OS-1 and OS-2 nodes began in the spring of 1964, and in the same year, testing of the Dniester radar model, assembled on the basis of the TsSO-P test site, was completed in Balkhash. The first tested radar cell with the Dniester radar was cell No. 4 in Gulshad, and in 1968, 3 more cells in Gulshad and 2 in Irkutsk were put into service. The first stage of the space control system (SCCS), consisting of 8 cells with the Dniester radar and 2 command posts at the OS-1 and OS-2 nodes in Irkutsk and Gulshad, was put into service and put on combat duty in 1971. This made it possible to create a continuous radar barrier with a length of 4000 km with a detection altitude of 200-1500 km in the zone of outer space where most of the potential enemy’s spacecraft passed.
But already in 1966, an improved version of this station, Dniester-M, was developed. Compared to the prototype, its energy was increased 5 times, range resolution was improved 16 times, which also increased to 6000 km, and the use of semiconductor equipment, in addition to the transmitter, significantly improved reliability and performance characteristics. Therefore, all the following cells of the OS system were equipped with radar "Dnestr-M" , and those previously adopted were modernized to its level. At the same time, the satellite detection altitude increased to 2500 km. In 1972, fifth cells with the Dnestr-M radar were adopted at both nodes, and all equipment (OS-1, OS-2, TsKKP) were combined into a single information system within a separate space reconnaissance division.
To be continued.
In the second half of the 50s, the development of the first domestic radar station "Dniester" began, designed for early detection of attacking ballistic missiles and space objects. This radar was tested at the Sary-Shagan test site, and in November 1962, the creation of ten such radars was ordered in the areas of Murmansk, Riga, Irkutsk and Balkhash (both to detect ballistic missile strikes from the United States, the waters of the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, and to provide functioning of the PKO complex).
The creation of such a continuously functioning PRI complex made it possible for the leadership of the country and the Armed Forces to implement a retaliatory strike strategy in the event of a nuclear missile strike by a potential enemy, because the fact of a sudden, undiscovered missile attack was excluded.
The threat of early detection of the launch and flight of ballistic missiles, and therefore inevitable retaliation, forced the United States to negotiate with the USSR on the issues of reducing strategic weapons and limiting missile defense systems. The ABM Treaty, signed in 1972, has been an effective factor in ensuring strategic stability in the world for almost 30 years.
Subsequently, along with the grouping of over-the-horizon radar systems based on the Dnepr and Daryal radars, it was planned to include in the early warning system two nodes for over-the-horizon detection of ICBM launches from US missile bases (Chernobyl and Komsomolsk-on-Amur) and the US-K space system with spacecraft in highly elliptical orbits (with an apogee of about 40 thousand km) and ground-based points for receiving and processing information. The two-tier construction of the information means of the warning system, operating on various physical principles, created the prerequisites for its stable operation in any conditions and increasing one of the main indicators of its functioning - the reliability of the generation of warning information.
In 1976, the missile attack warning system as part of the early warning system command post with the new 5E66 computer and the Crocus warning complex, nodes RO-1 (Murmansk), RO-2 (Riga), RO-4 (Sevastopol), RO-5 ( Mukachevo), OS-1 (Irkutsk) and OS-2 (Balkhash) based on fifteen Dnepr radars, as well as the US-K system, were put on combat duty. Subsequently, the Daugava radar, the first radar with phased array (prototype of the future Daryal radar), was put into service and put on combat duty as part of the RO-1 node, and spacecraft in geostationary orbit were introduced into the US-K system (US system -KS) .
From the moment the US-K system was tested and put on combat duty until now, about a hundred launches of spacecraft with a thermal direction-finding detection system have been carried out into highly elliptical (spacecraft type 73D6) and stationary (spacecraft type 74X6) orbits. The launches were carried out from the Plesetsk and Baikonur cosmodromes, where special complexes were created for the pre-flight preparation of spacecraft.
In 1977, all formations and military units that ensure the operation of early warning systems were organizationally consolidated into a separate army of the early warning system (the first commander was Colonel General V.K. Strelnikov).
In 1984, the lead model of the Daryal radar, created at the RO-ZO (Pechora) node, was adopted by the Soviet Army, and a year later, in 1985, the second model of the Daryal radar was put into operation at the RO-7 node (Gabala, Azerbaijan).
In the 80s, it was planned to create three Daryal-U radars in the areas of Balkhash, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, two Daryal-UM radars in the Mukachevo and Riga areas, and work began on the development of the Volga series of radars to create a dual-band radar field SPRN.
In 1980, the development of a new high-performance domestic computer, M-13, began for the Daryal type radar. In 1984, after clarifying the appearance of the radar, making it possible to simplify and reduce the cost of mass production, a decision was made to create the head radar "Volga" in the western missile-hazardous direction in the Baranovichi region. In 1985, a decision was made to create a space system for detecting ballistic missile launches from US and Chinese missile bases, seas and oceans (USK-MO). In subsequent years, a fundamentally new combat program was introduced at all Dnepr radars, and the construction of three Daryal-U radars and two Daryal-UM radars was completed.
After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986) and the cessation of operation of the first ZGRL unit "Duga-1", the question arises about the advisability of using the second ZGRL unit for its intended purpose
(KV, as part of the Aerospace Forces). The competence of the HF includes tracking the launches of ballistic missiles and warning the highest levels of command of the RF Armed Forces about a missile attack; protection of important infrastructure facilities and the country's troops from attacks by enemy aerospace attacks.
HFs monitor space objects, identify threats to Russia in space and, if necessary, respond to them. This branch of the military is also involved in launching spacecraft into orbit and managing military and dual-use satellite systems. HF facilities are located throughout Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The most important factor in ensuring Russia's national security is obtaining prompt and reliable information about ballistic missile launches. The national missile attack warning system (MSWS) has been successfully coping with this task for more than 40 years.
The early warning system consists of two echelons. The first (space) consists of a group of spacecraft designed to detect ballistic missile launches anywhere on the planet in real time. The second (ground) echelon includes a network of ground-based radars that detect missiles in flight at a range of up to 6 thousand km. The early warning system is in service with the Main Missile Attack Warning Center, which is part of the KV VKS.
The ground echelon (in addition to the Don-2N radar) includes the Dnepr, Daryal stations, as well as the Voronezh-type high-prefabricated radar, which should replace them. In accordance with the state armament program, it is planned to complete the re-equipment of early warning systems by 2020.
As Colonel-General Alexander Golovko, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, stated, during 2017, more than 50 launches of foreign and domestic ballistic missiles and space missiles were detected by early warning systems, specialized means of space control systems and missile defense systems.
"Tundra" instead of "Oko"
At the end of 2015, the newest satellite of the missile launch warning system EKS-1 (Cosmos-2510), which operates in the Unified Space System (USS) Tundra, was launched into orbit. It is being created as part of the development and improvement of the missile attack warning system.
The creation of the EKS is one of the key directions in the development of the forces and means of nuclear deterrence of the Russian Federation. As a result, we will be able to detect launches of various types of ballistic missiles, including launches of prototypes from the waters of the World Ocean and from the territories of countries conducting tests
Sergei Shoigu
Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
The EKS should replace the space echelon, the basis of which was the satellites of the Oko-1 system. The last such device, according to open data, failed in 2014. The Oko system began to be created in Russia in 1991. A total of eight satellites produced by NPO Lavochkin were launched into orbit.
The ECS will include new generation spacecraft, as well as modernized command posts that provide control of the orbital constellation, reception and processing of special information in automatic mode.
"TASS/Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation"
As a source in the defense-industrial complex told TASS: “Starting from 2018, two spacecraft will be launched annually. The launches will be carried out using Soyuz-2 launch vehicles from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.”
The second EKS-2 satellite was launched on May 25 this year using the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle from the Plesetsk cosmodrome by combat crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces. After being removed he was assigned serial number"Cosmos-2518".
With the launch of all vehicles into orbit, the space echelon of early warning systems will grow to ten satellites by 2022 and will be capable of detecting ballistic missile launches from any region of the world immediately after their launch. In addition, by 2020, more than 10 new laser-optical and radio-technical systems for recognizing space objects will be deployed in the Russian Federation. The first such complex is already successfully performing tasks in the experimental combat duty mode on the territory of the Altai Territory.
In order to re-equip formations and military units of the KV with promising weapons, about 50 development and research work is currently underway to create new generation systems and complexes in the coming years
Alexander Golovko
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel General
As of March 30, 2017, over the entire period of combat duty, early warning systems detected more than 1.5 thousand launches of foreign and domestic ballistic missiles and space missiles.
"Voronezh"
The radars are deployed in the Leningrad, Kaliningrad, Irkutsk regions and Krasnodar Territory. Three more stations will be on alert in the Krasnoyarsk, Altai territories and the Orenburg region. By the end of 2019, work on placing a missile attack warning system radar near Murmansk and Vorkuta will be completed.
Stations of this type operate in two main bands: UHF and meter. The range reaches 6 thousand km. The radar is capable of detecting ballistic, space and aerodynamic objects. It can simultaneously monitor up to 500 such objects.
The first station of this type was deployed in the village of Lekhtusi near St. Petersburg in 2008. As a result, the military has the opportunity to see everything that is happening in the air and space from the coast of Morocco to Spitsbergen, and in range - to the east coast of the United States.
According to the Izvestia newspaper, the Russian Ministry of Defense is deploying a group of Voronezh-VP radars capable of detecting cruise missiles at a range of several thousand kilometers. These radars are being created on the basis of already deployed Voronezh missile attack warning stations. The main feature is that they work in the centimeter range. The first such multifunctional radar has already been deployed near Irkutsk.
By the end of this year, the new generation Voronezh-DM VZG station in the Krasnoyarsk Territory will go on combat duty. This radar, capable of reliably detecting ballistic and hypersonic targets at a range of up to 6 thousand km, was put on experimental combat duty (COD) at the end of last year. Since that time, the operation of the radar has been jointly provided by officers on duty shifts of the HF Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation and representatives of industry. After being transferred to combat duty mode, the station will completely transfer to the balance of the videoconferencing system. During the OBD period, station crews recorded six launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Area of responsibility is the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and the northern direction.
The Russian Ministry of Defense notes that the construction of a network of radars created using VZG technology is being carried out with the aim of improving the capabilities of early warning systems on the territory of the Russian Federation. These stations have higher technical and tactical characteristics. The creation of a network of new high-tech VZG radars makes it possible to quickly increase the capabilities of the domestic early warning system and ensure continuous radar control of all missile-hazardous directions from Russian territory.
The Voronezh-DM VZG radar has technical and tactical characteristics that compare favorably with previous generation radars. In terms of accuracy in measuring parameters, its capabilities are much higher, since this station operates in the decimeter range of radio waves. In addition, it has a much lower level of energy consumption and the volume of technological equipment.
Due to the use of modern technology in new generation stations technological equipment the maintenance process of these radars has been significantly optimized, as a result of which the number of personnel involved in its daily maintenance is several times lower than on the predecessor radars of the Dnepr, Volga and Daryal types.
The financial costs for the construction of Voronezh-type radars are immeasurably smaller amounts compared to the construction of stations of previous generations, which in modern realities is also one of the key advantages.
"Volga"
It is a ground-based stationary sector-type radar. Put into operation in 2003. Operates in continuous duty mode.
Designed for continuous monitoring of outer space in the western direction in order to detect enemy ballistic missiles on trajectories and artificial Earth satellites in a given sector, as well as to automatically issue information about them to notified control points.
The decision to build it was made back in 1984: it was intended, first of all, to use the radar to detect American Pershing II missiles, which threatened the USSR from the western direction. The station was located 50 km from the city of Baranovichi in Belarus. Even then, this made it possible to detect ballistic missiles launching from the waters of the Eastern and Western Atlantic.
Now “Volga” not only fulfills its main task, but also monitors near-Earth space, daily recording more than 1 thousand objects flying in space, which are identified based on measurement results.
"Dnieper"
Belongs to the first generation of Soviet over-the-horizon radars designed for space control systems and early warning of a missile attack. They were the main Soviet early warning device until the late 1980s. In the 90s, it was planned to replace them with more advanced Daryals, but due to the collapse of the USSR, only two stations of the new type were put into operation.
The Dnepr-type radars, put into operation in 1979, are capable of detecting ballistic missiles at a range of 1.9 thousand km and monitoring outer space over Central and Southern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean.
Back in 2014, KV commander Alexander Golovko (then serving as commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces) reported that the Dnepr station near Sevastopol was planned to be modernized and put on combat duty in 2016. However, in May 2016, General Director of the RTI Concern Sergei Boev told TASS that the final decision on restoring the radar station near Sevastopol had not yet been made. According to the publication’s interlocutor, in Crimea they can build a station from scratch, as the military insists, or modernize the existing Dnepr. “The issue has not been finally resolved, but we are familiar with this situation. When there is a decision from the main customer, we will do all this within the set time frame,” Boev said.
"Daryal"
Commissioned in 1983. Operates in continuous duty mode. Belongs to the second generation of Soviet radars for over-the-horizon detection of ballistic missile launches.
The need for stations of this type appeared at the height of the Cold War. In 1972, a project was developed in Moscow and construction began on seven new radars, but only four went into operation. Now one of them is located near the city of Pechora, about 200 km from the Arctic Circle.
It controls Canada, most of the USA, and Western Europe. Its locators are able to detect any object at a distance of 6 thousand km, be it a satellite or space debris.
The Daryal radar (Pechora, according to NATO classification) is based on a huge complex of equipment consisting of more than 4 thousand units of electronic radio equipment. The high-rise buildings of the receiving (100 m) and transmitting (40 m) antennas are spaced at a certain distance, adjusted to the nearest millimeter. The station's energy and water consumption were equivalent to the needs of an average city with a population of 100 thousand people.
Until the end of 2012, the Gabala radar station was in operation. In 2013, it was transferred to Azerbaijan, the equipment was dismantled and exported to the Russian Federation. It was replaced by the Voronezh-DM station in Armavir.
In 2011, it became known that radars of the Daryal and Dnepr types had already exhausted their design technical resources and were being replaced by a new generation of radars of the Voronezh family, which were built in a year and a half (instead of five to ten years) and consume much more less energy. The new station consists of only 23–30 units of technical equipment, while Daryal consists of 4070.
"Don-2N"
A stationary multifunctional centimeter range all-round radar station, created as part of the Moscow missile defense mission. It can detect an object measuring 5 cm at a distance of up to 2 thousand km.
The detection range of the warhead of an intercontinental ballistic missile is 3.7 thousand km, and the target detection altitude is 40 thousand km.
The Don-2N station is the central and most complex element of Moscow's missile defense system. Its tasks include detecting ballistic targets and tracking them, measuring coordinates and targeting anti-missile missiles at them. The radar is integrated into a single system of additional information support missile attack warning and space control systems.
The radar is a tetrahedral truncated pyramid up to 35 m high. Operation is provided by a computing complex with a capacity of up to a billion operations per second, built on the basis of four Elbrus-2 supercomputers.
The only operating station of this type is located in Sofrino, near Moscow.
Roman Azanov