In addition to over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars, the Soviet early warning missile system used a space component based on artificial earth satellites (AES). This made it possible to significantly increase the reliability of information and detect ballistic missiles almost immediately after launch. In 1980, the ICBM launch early detection system (Oko system) began to function, consisting of four satellites US-K (Unified Control System) in highly elliptical orbits and the Central Ground Command Post (TsKP) in Serpukhov-15 near Moscow (garrison " Kurilovo"), also known as the "Western KP". Information from the satellites came to parabolic antennas covered with large radio-transparent domes, multi-ton antennas continuously tracked the constellation of early warning satellites in highly elliptical and geostationary orbits.

Antenna complex "Western KP"

The apogees of the highly elliptical orbit of the US-K satellite were located over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This made it possible to observe the base areas of American ICBMs on both daily orbits and at the same time maintain direct communication with the command post near Moscow or in the Far East. To reduce the illumination by radiation reflected from the Earth and clouds, the satellites observed not vertically downward, but at an angle. One satellite could carry out control for 6 hours, for round-the-clock operation there had to be at least four spacecraft in orbit.

To ensure reliable and reliable observation, the satellite constellation had to have nine devices - this achieved the necessary duplication in case of premature failure of the satellites, and also made it possible to observe simultaneously two or three satellites, which reduced the likelihood of false alarms. And there have been such cases: it is known that on September 26, 1983, the system gave a false alarm about a missile attack, this happened as a result of reflection sunlight from the clouds. Fortunately, the duty shift of the command post acted professionally, and the signal, after analyzing all the circumstances, was found to be false. A satellite constellation of nine satellites, which provides simultaneous observation by several satellites and, as a result, high reliability of information, began to function in 1987.

The Oko system was officially put into service in 1982; since 1984, another satellite in geostationary orbit began to work in its composition. The US-KS (Oko-S) spacecraft was a modified US-K satellite designed to operate in geostationary orbit. Satellites of this modification were placed at a point of standing at 24° west longitude, providing observation of the central part of the United States at the edge of the visible disk of the earth's surface.

Satellites in geostationary orbit have a significant advantage - they do not change their position relative to the earth's surface and are able to provide duplication of data received from a constellation of satellites in highly elliptical orbits. In addition to control over the continental United States, the Soviet space satellite control system provided surveillance of the combat patrol areas of American SSBNs in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

In addition to the "Western KP" in the Moscow region, 40 km south of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, on the shores of Lake Khummi, the "Eastern KP" ("Gaiter-1") was built. At the control center of the early warning system in the central part of the country and in the Far East, information received from spacecraft was continuously processed, with its subsequent transfer to the Main Missile Attack Warning Center (MC PRN), located near the village of Timonovo, Solnechnogorsk district, Moscow region (“Solnechnogorsk- 7").

Google earth snapshot: "Eastern KP"

Unlike the "Western KP", which is more dispersed on the ground, the object in the Far East is located much more compactly, seven parabolic antennas lined up in two rows under radio-transparent domes of white color. Interestingly, nearby were the receiving antennas of the Duga over-the-horizon radar, which is also part of the early warning system. In general, in the 1980s, an unprecedented concentration of military units and formations was observed in the vicinity of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The large Far Eastern military-industrial center and the units and formations stationed in this area were protected from air strikes by the 8th Air Defense Corps.

After the Oko system was placed on combat duty, work began on the creation of its improved version. This was due to the need to detect launching missiles not only from the continental United States, but also from other regions of the globe. Deployment new system US-KMO (Unified System for Control of the Seas and Oceans) "Oko-1" with satellites in geostationary orbit began in the Soviet Union in February 1991 with the launch of a second-generation spacecraft, and it was already adopted by the Russian armed forces in 1996. Distinctive feature of the Oko-1 system was the use of vertical observation of the launch of missiles against the background of the earth's surface, this makes it possible not only to register the fact of the launch of missiles, but also to determine the direction of their flight. For this, satellites 71X6 (US-KMO) are equipped with an infrared telescope with a mirror 1 m in diameter and a solar protective screen 4.5 m in size.

The full constellation of satellites was to include seven satellites in geostationary orbits and four satellites in high elliptical orbits. All of them, regardless of the orbit, are capable of detecting launches of ICBMs and SLBMs against the background of the earth's surface and cloud cover. The launch of satellites into orbit was carried out by the Proton-K launch vehicle from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

It was not possible to implement all the plans to build the SPRN orbital constellation; in total, 8 US-KMO vehicles were launched from 1991 to 2012. By the middle of 2014, there were two 73D6 devices in the limitedly functional system, which could work only a few hours a day. But in January 2015, they also failed. The reason for this situation was the low reliability of onboard equipment, instead of the planned 5-7 years of active work, the service life of the satellites was 2-3 years. The most annoying thing is that the liquidation of the Russian satellite constellation of warning about a missile attack did not occur during the time of Gorbachev's "perestroika" or Yeltsin's "Time of Troubles", but in the well-fed years of "revival" and "rising from his knees", when huge funds were spent on "image events ". Since the beginning of 2015, our missile attack warning system has been relying only on over-the-horizon radars, which, of course, reduces the time it takes to make a decision on a retaliatory strike.

Unfortunately, with the ground part of the satellite warning system, too, everything was not going smoothly. On May 10, 2001, a fire broke out at the TsKP in the Moscow region, while the building and ground communications and control equipment were seriously damaged. According to some reports, direct damage from the fire amounted to 2 billion rubles. Due to the fire, communication with Russian early warning satellites was lost for 12 hours.

In the second half of the 1990s, a group of "foreign inspectors" was admitted to a top-secret facility near Komsomolsk-on-Amur as a demonstration of "openness" and a "gesture of goodwill" in Soviet times. Then, especially for the arrival of the "guests", at the entrance to the "Eastern KP" they hung a sign "Center for Tracking Space Objects", which still hangs.

At the moment, the future of the Russian early warning satellite constellation has not been determined. So, at the "Eastern KP" most of the equipment is decommissioned and mothballed. About half of the military and civilian specialists engaged in the operation and maintenance of the "Eastern KP", data processing and relaying, and the infrastructure of the Far Eastern control center began to deteriorate.

Constructions of the "Eastern KP", photo by the author

According to information published in the media, the Oko-1 system should be replaced by the satellite of the Unified Space System (EKS). Created in Russia, the EKS satellite system is functionally analogous to the American SBIRS in many respects. In addition to the 14F142 Tundra devices that track missile launches and calculate trajectories, the EKS should also include satellites of the Liana marine space reconnaissance and target designation system, devices of the optical-electronic and radar reconnaissance complex and geodetic satellite system.

The launch of the Tundra satellite into a high elliptical orbit was originally scheduled for mid-2015, but later the launch was postponed to November 2015. The launch of the device, which received the designation "Cosmos-2510", was carried out from the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome using a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle. The only satellite in orbit, of course, is not capable of providing a full-fledged early warning of a missile attack, and serves mainly to prepare and adjust ground equipment, train and train calculations.

In the early 70s, work began in the USSR on the creation effective system ABM of the city of Moscow, which was supposed to provide the defense of the city from single warheads. Among other technical innovations was the introduction of radar stations with fixed multi-element phased antenna arrays into the anti-missile system. This made it possible to view (scan) space in a wide-angle sector in the azimuthal and vertical planes. Prior to the start of construction in the Moscow region, an experimental truncated model of the Don-2NP station was built and tested at the Sary-Shagan training ground.

The central and most complex element of the A-135 missile defense system was the Don-2N all-round radar operating in the centimeter range. This radar is a truncated pyramid about 35 meters high with a side length of about 140 meters at the base and about 100 meters along the roof. In each of the four faces there are fixed large-aperture active phased antenna arrays (receiving and transmitting) that provide all-round visibility. The transmitting antenna radiates a signal in a pulse with a power of up to 250 MW.

Radar "Don-2N"

The uniqueness of this station lies in its versatility and versatility. The Don-2N radar solves the tasks of detecting ballistic targets, selecting, tracking, measuring coordinates and pointing interceptor missiles with a nuclear warhead at them. The station is controlled by a computer complex with a capacity of up to a billion operations per second, built on the basis of four Elbrus-2 supercomputers.

The construction of the station and anti-missile mines began in 1978 in the Pushkinsky district, 50 km north of Moscow. During the construction of the station, more than 30,000 tons of metal, 50,000 tons of concrete were used, 20,000 kilometers of various cables were laid. Hundreds of kilometers of water pipes were required to cool the equipment. Work on installation, installation and adjustment of equipment was carried out from 1980 to 1987. In 1989, the station was put into trial operation. The A-135 missile defense system itself was officially put into service on February 17, 1995.

Initially, the Moscow missile defense system provided for the use of two echelons of interception of targets: long-range anti-missiles 51T6 at high altitudes outside the atmosphere and shorter-range anti-missiles 53T6 in the atmosphere. According to the information released by the Russian Defense Ministry, the 51T6 interceptor missiles were removed from combat duty in 2006 due to the expiration of the warranty period. At the moment, only 53T6 near-field anti-missiles with a maximum range of 60 km and altitude of 45 km remain in the A-135 system. In order to extend the service life of 53T6 interceptor missiles, since 2011, in the course of a planned modernization, they are being equipped with new engines and guidance equipment based on a new element base with an improved software. Since 1999, tests of anti-missiles in service have been carried out regularly. The last test at the Sary-Shagan test site took place on June 21, 2016.

Despite the fact that the A-135 anti-missile system was quite advanced by the standards of the mid-80s, its capabilities made it possible to reliably repel only a limited nuclear strike with single warheads. Until the early 2000s, Moscow's missile defense system could successfully withstand monoblock Chinese ballistic missiles equipped with rather primitive means of overcoming missile defense. By the time it was put into service, the A-135 system could no longer intercept all the American thermonuclear warheads aimed at Moscow, deployed on the LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM and UGM-133A Trident II SLBM.

Google earth snapshot: Don-2N radar and 53T6 anti-missile silo

According to data published in open sources, as of January 2016, 68 53T6 interceptor missiles were deployed in silo launchers in five position areas in the vicinity of Moscow. Twelve mines are located in close proximity to the Don-2N radar.

In addition to detecting ballistic missile attacks, tracking them and targeting them with anti-missiles, the Don-2N station is involved in the missile attack warning system. With a viewing angle of 360 degrees, it is possible to detect warheads of ICBMs at a distance of up to 3,700 km. It is possible to control outer space at a distance (altitude) up to 40,000 km. For a number of parameters, the Don-2N radar is still unsurpassed.

In February 1994, during the ODERACS program from the American Shuttle in February 1994, 6 metal balls were thrown into outer space, two each with a diameter of 5, 10 and 15 centimeters. They were in earth orbit from 6 to 13 months, after which they burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. The purpose of this program was to find out the possibilities for detecting small space objects, calibrating radars and optical means in order to track "space debris". Only the Russian station "Don-2N" was able to detect and plot the trajectories of the smallest objects with a diameter of 5 cm at a distance of 500-800 km with a target height of 352 km. After detection, their escort was carried out at a distance of up to 1500 km.

In the second half of the 70s, after the appearance in the United States of SSBNs armed with UGM-96 Trident I SLBMs with MIRVs, and the announcement of plans to deploy the MGM-31C Pershing II IRBM in Europe, the Soviet leadership decided to create a network of over-the-horizon medium-potential decimeter range stations in the west of the USSR. New radars, due to their high resolution, in addition to detecting missile launches, could provide accurate target designation for missile defense systems. It was supposed to build four radars with digital information processing, created using the technology of solid-state modules and having the ability to tun the frequency in two bands. The basic principles of building a new station 70M6 "Volga" were worked out at the range radar "Danube-3UP" in Sary-Shagan. The construction of a new early warning radar began in 1986 in Belarus, 8 km northeast of the city of Gantsevichi.

During the construction, for the first time in the USSR, the method of accelerated construction of a multi-storey technological building from large-sized structural modules with the necessary embedded elements for installing equipment with connecting power supply and cooling systems was applied. New technology The construction of objects of this kind from modules manufactured at Moscow factories and delivered to the construction site made it possible to reduce the construction time by about half and significantly reduced the cost. This was the first experience of creating a high-factory early warning early warning radar station, which was later developed during the creation of the Voronezh radar station. The receiving and transmitting antennas are similar in design and built on the basis of AFAR. The size of the transmitting part is 36×20 meters, the receiving part is 36×36 meters. The positions of the receiving and transmitting parts are separated by 3 km from each other. The modular design of the station allows for a phased upgrade without removing it from combat duty.

The receiving part of the radar "Volga"

In connection with the conclusion of an agreement on the liquidation of the INF Treaty, the construction of the station was frozen in 1988. After Russia lost the early warning system in Latvia, the construction of the Volga radar station in Belarus resumed. In 1995, a Russian-Belarusian agreement was concluded, according to which the communication center of the Navy "Vileika" and ORTU "Gantsevichi" together with land plots were transferred to Russia for 25 years without the collection of all types of taxes and fees. As compensation, the Belarusian side was written off part of the debts for energy carriers, the Belarusian military personnel are partially servicing the nodes, and the Belarusian side is provided with information on the rocket and space situation and admission to the Ashuluk air defense range.

Due to the loss of economic ties, which was associated with the collapse of the USSR and insufficient funding, construction and installation work delayed until the end of 1999. Only in December 2001 did the station take up experimental combat duty, and on October 1, 2003, the Volga radar was put into service. This is the only station of this type built.

Google earth snapshot: receiving part of the Volga radar

The early warning radar station in Belarus primarily controls the patrol areas of American, British and French SSBNs in the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea. The Volga radar is capable of detecting and identifying space objects and ballistic missiles, as well as tracking their trajectories, calculating launch and fall points, the detection range of SLBMs reaches 4800 km in an azimuth sector of 120 degrees. Radar information from the Volga radar is transmitted in real time to the Main Missile Attack Warning Center. Currently, this is the only operating facility of the Russian missile attack warning system located abroad.

The most modern and promising in terms of tracking missile-hazardous areas are the Russian early warning radars of the 77Ya6 Voronezh-M / DM type in the meter and decimeter range. In terms of their capabilities in terms of detecting and tracking ballistic missile warheads, the Voronezh stations are superior to the radars of the previous generation, but the cost of their construction and operation is several times lower. Unlike the stations "Dnepr", "Don-2N", "Daryal" and "Volga", the construction and debugging of which sometimes stretched for 10 years, the early warning radars of the Voronezh series have a high degree of factory readiness, and from the moment construction began to putting on combat duty usually takes 2-3 years, the period of installation of the radar does not exceed 1.5-2 years. The station is a block-container type, includes 23 equipment elements in factory-made containers.

Early warning radar "Voronezh-M" in Lekhtusi

The station consists of a transceiver unit with AFAR, a prefabricated building for personnel and containers with electronic equipment. The modular design principle makes it possible to quickly and cost-effectively upgrade the radar during operation. As part of the radar, control and data processing equipment, modules and nodes are used that allow to form a station with the necessary performance characteristics from a unified set of structural elements, in accordance with the operational and tactical requirements at the location.

Thanks to the use of a new element base, advanced design solutions and the use of an optimal operating mode, compared to old-type stations, power consumption has been significantly reduced. Program control potential in the sector of responsibility in terms of range, angles and time makes it possible to rationally use the power of the radar. Depending on the situation, it is possible to quickly distribute energy resources in the working area of ​​the radar during peaceful and threatened periods. The built-in diagnostic system and highly informative control system also reduce the cost of maintaining the radar. Thanks to the use of high-performance computing tools, it is possible to simultaneously track up to 500 objects.

Elements of the antenna meter radar "Voronezh-M"

To date, three real-life modifications of the Voronezh radar are known. Stations of the Voronezh-M type (77Ya6) operate in the meter range, the target detection range is up to 6000 km. Radar "Voronezh-DM" (77Ya6-DM) operate in the decimeter range, the range is up to 4500 km horizontally and up to 8000 km vertically. UHF stations with a shorter detection range are better suited for missile defense tasks, since the accuracy of determining the coordinates of targets is higher than that of meter-range radars. In the short term, the detection range of the Voronezh-DM radar should be increased to 6,000 km.

The last known modification is the Voronezh-VP (77Y6-VP) - a development of the 77Y6 Voronezh-M. This is a high-potential meter range radar with a power consumption of up to 10 MW. Due to the increase in the power of the emitted signal and the introduction of new modes of operation, the possibility of detecting subtle targets in conditions of organized interference has increased. According to the published information, Voronezh-VP of the meter range, in addition to the tasks of early warning systems, is capable of detecting aerodynamic targets at medium and high altitudes at a considerable distance. This allows you to record the massive takeoff of long-range bombers and tanker aircraft of "potential partners". But the statements of some "jingo-patriotic" visitors to the Military Review website about the possibility of effectively monitoring the entire airspace of the continental United States with the help of these stations, of course, do not correspond to reality.

Google earth snapshot: Voronezh-M radar in Lekhtusi

Currently, eight Voronezh-M/DM stations under construction or in operation are known. The first Voronezh-M station was built in Leningrad region near the village of Lekhtusi in 2006. The radar station in Lehtusi took up combat duty on February 11, 2012, covering the northwestern missile-hazardous direction, instead of the destroyed Daryal radar station in Skrunda. In Lekhtusi there is a base for providing the educational process of the Military Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaisky, where training and training of personnel for other Voronezh radars is carried out. It was reported about plans to upgrade the head station to the level of "Voronezh-VP".

Google earth snapshot: Voronezh-DM radar near Armavir

The next station was Voronezh-DM in Krasnodar Territory near Armavir, built on the site of the runway of the former airfield. It consists of two segments. One closes the gap formed after the loss of the Dnepr radar station on the Crimean peninsula, the other replaced Gabala radar station"Daryal" in Azerbaijan. The radar station built near Armavir controls the southern and southwestern direction.

Another UHF station was built in the Kaliningrad region at the abandoned Dunaevka airfield. This radar covers the zone of responsibility of the Volga radar in Belarus and the Dnepr radar in Ukraine. The Voronezh-DM station in the Kaliningrad region is the westernmost Russian early warning radar and is capable of controlling space over most of Europe, including the British Isles.

Google earth snapshot: Voronezh-M radar in Mishelevka

The second Voronezh-M meter-range radar was built in Mishelevka near Irkutsk on the site of the dismantled transmitting position of the Daryal radar. Its antenna field is twice the size of the Lekhtusin one - 6 sections instead of three, and controls the territory from the US west coast to India. As a result, it was possible to expand the field of view to 240 degrees in azimuth. This station replaced the decommissioned Dnepr radar, located in the same place in Mishelevka.

Google earth snapshot: Voronezh-M radar near Orsk

The Voronezh-M station was also built near Orsk, in the Orenburg region. It has been in test mode since 2015. Putting on combat duty is scheduled for 2016. After that, it will be possible to control the launches of ballistic missiles from Iran and Pakistan.

Voronezh-DM decimeter radars are being prepared for commissioning in the village of Ust-Kem in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the village of Konyuhi in the Altai Territory. These stations are planned to cover the northeast and southeast directions. Both radars should start combat duty in the near future. In addition, the Voronezh-M stations in the Komi Republic near Vorkuta, Voronezh-DM in the Amur Region and Voronezh-DM in the Murmansk Region are at various stages of construction. The last station is to replace the Dnepr/Daugava complex.

The adoption of Voronezh-type stations not only significantly expanded the capabilities of missile and space defense, but also makes it possible to place all ground-based early warning systems on the territory of Russia, which should minimize military-political risks and exclude the possibility of economic and political blackmail by CIS partners . In the future, the Russian Defense Ministry intends to completely replace all Soviet missile warning radars with them. It can be said with full confidence that the Voronezh series radars are the best in the world in terms of a set of characteristics.

As of the end of 2015, the Main Missile Warning Center of the Space Command of the Aerospace Forces received information from ten ORTUs. There was no such radar coverage by over-the-horizon radars even in the days of the USSR, but Russian system missile attack warning is currently unbalanced due to the lack of the necessary satellite constellation in its composition.

Main Structure Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Aerospace Forces On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Russia's rocket and space defense Missile attack warning

The main task of the Missile Attack Warning System is to detect with high certainty a missile attack on Russian Federation and the CIS states and issuing warnings to command posts about the launch of ballistic missiles, a missile attack, information about the aggressor state, the attacked areas, the time until the arrival of ballistic missile warheads and the scale of the missile strike with characteristics sufficient for decision-making by the highest levels of government of the state and the Armed Forces RF forces.

The main tasks solved by the PRN system:

1. Formation and issuance of warning information about a missile attack on the highest levels of government of the country and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
2. Detection and classification of missile strikes, identification of the aggressor state, assessment of the scale and degree of threat of a strike in the interests of ensuring the effective use of defensive and strike combat systems of the RF Armed Forces.
3. Formation of "Alarm" signals and target designation information for strategic missile defense and for air defense and missile defense systems.
4. Providing information about the missile attack to the EMERCOM of Russia for the timely adoption of civil defense measures.
5. Instrumental reconnaissance of the parameters and combat capabilities of missiles of potential enemies during their test and combat training launches.

The main information tools of the PRN system

The main information means of the missile attack warning system include both space echelon means (specialized artificial Earth satellites) and ground-based means of over-the-horizon location - a network of Voronezh, Voronezh-DM and Daryal high-readiness radar stations, which detect ballistic missiles in flight at ranges up to 6,000 kilometers.

Detection and determination of the trajectories of launching intercontinental ballistic missiles is carried out by radiation from the propulsion system plume with the help of onboard detection equipment placed on spacecraft in geostationary or highly elliptical orbits.

Information coming from spacecraft and radar stations flows for processing to the Command Post of the PRN System. A unique automated data processing system for early warning systems, information assets of anti-missile defense and space control systems makes it possible to timely, accurately and reliably establish the fact of a missile attack.

History of the Missile Attack Warning System

By the mid-1960s, the military, scientific, and industrial circles gradually formed a conviction that it was necessary to solve the problems of early detection of a missile attack and constant monitoring of the state and changes in the space situation, which materialized in the corresponding technical proposals.

The basic concept of the construction of the early warning system was formed by the Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1961 - 1962. and included the following principles:

• layered construction of the system;
• complex use of the received data;
• automation of the process of collecting information;
• centralization of the collection and processing of data from detection equipment, which would make it possible to eliminate errors in combat crews in assessing the situation.

When creating radar stations, the method of over-the-horizon radar was used. Such radars were created at the Radio Engineering Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the guidance of Academician A.L. Mints. The first station designed to detect ballistic missiles and space objects was the Dniester radar, which was tested in 1962.

The studies carried out and joint initiatives of the general customer, NII-2 of the Ministry of Defense and RTI of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR led to the adoption in 1967 of a decision to create an early detection radar complex (RO complex) for ballistic missile flight from a northern direction as part of two radar units based on the radar " Dnepr", located in the areas of the cities of Murmansk and Riga, the command post of the complex in the Moscow region, designed to automatically analyze and summarize the information coming from the nodes, the intra-complex data transmission system and the means of transmitting generalized information to the command posts of the country's leadership and the Armed Forces.

The RO complex became the prototype of the domestic missile attack warning system. It was created and tested in a relatively short time and already in August 1970 they were put into service, and soon they were put on combat duty.

At the same time, the first combat military unit was born - a separate missile attack warning division, transformed in the process of building up the PRN system into the 3rd separate missile attack warning army with the formation on its basis of military units and formations of missile defense, anti-aircraft defense and SKKP special arms of the RKO, subordinate to the commander-in-chief of the country's air defense forces.

The modern look of the early warning system was formed by the beginning of the 70s. Since 1976, this system was put into operation and put on combat duty, having in its composition a network of Dnestr and Dnepr radars deployed along the perimeter of the territory of the USSR to create a continuous radar field in the main missile-prone directions.

Subsequently, the Danube-3 and Danube-3U radars were connected to the command post of the Missile Attack Warning System, which were primarily information means of the missile defense system.

The possibilities of obtaining information about the missile situation were not limited to the technical ideas embodied in over-the-horizon radar stations. Throughout the 1960s. the development of a high-orbit space system for detecting launching ballistic missiles on the active leg of the flight by radiation from the torches of rocket engines using passive optical equipment continued.

This system, created at the Central Research Institute "Kometa" under the leadership of Academician Anatoly Savin, was put into service as a space segment of the early warning system in 1983.

A number of scientific teams, of which one of the NIIDAR teams quickly stood out as the head and responsible for solving this problem, took the initiative to develop an over-the-horizon short-wave radar using multiple reflection of radiation along the propagation path from the ionosphere and the earth's surface.

In 1965, a decision was made to create a reduced prototype of such a radar and to carry out an appropriate set of experimental work. This work, which received the code "Duga", subsequently became the basis for the development and creation of two on-duty over-the-horizon stations of the PRN system, which made it possible to control the missile and space situation in the southern and western directions. Subsequently, a head radar unit was created for over-the-horizon detection of missile launches in the Chernobyl area. The second such node in the area of ​​Komsomolsk-on-Amur was presented for autonomous testing.

The final result of these works was the testing of an integrated PRN system as part of optical space, over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars for detecting ballistic missiles. In 1980, these tests were completed and the PRN system in a new composition and with new higher characteristics was put on combat duty.

In 1979, a program for the development of early warning systems for the 1980s was approved. To expand the over-the-horizon field, it was planned to build four Daryal-U radars (in the Balkhash, Irkutsk, Yeniseisk and Azerbaijan regions), as well as three Daryal-UM radars (in Mukachevo, Riga and Krasnoyarsk) and a Volga radar with phased antenna array price Belarus | In addition, a significant modernization of the existing Dnepr radar was envisaged.

Plans for the development of a space-based system for detecting missile launches provided for the creation of a command post for detecting strikes from the territories of states possessing missile delivery vehicles and the waters of the World Ocean.

The development of early warning systems, as well as the solution by this system of tasks of particular importance, required the centralization of management and a change in the organizational and staffing structure. In July 1977, a decision was made to form a separate missile attack warning association. special purpose., the tasks of the created PRN association were formulated.

In the late 1980s, it became obvious that the era of radar giants was ending. Ground radar stations and that new generation ground stations should become high-potential, economical in operation, require a minimum amount of building structures and special technical equipment.

It should have been possible to quickly deploy radars in places of deployment, quickly relocate, increase their characteristics, select a specific modification in a number of stations of the same type, differing in operating wavelength and other parameters. To create such tools, it was necessary to develop a new concept based on two technologies - high factory readiness (HFA) and open architecture.

These principles were adopted in the development of a new generation of radar stations. Such stations can be used in the interests of any consumer of the radar situation - in the systems of PRN, space control, anti-missile and air defense, as well as national monitoring facilities.

The technology of high factory readiness involves the development and manufacture of individual modules - finished components of the radar - even at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex. The station is assembled from ready-made unified container-type macromodules, while full-fledged deployment of the radar requires only a minimally prepared site.

The open architecture technology made it possible to design and assemble stations of various modifications based on typical structural components - macromodules that can be changed, expanded and reshaped depending on the purpose of a particular complex and its tasks.

This is the main difference between a new generation of radars and radars with a rigid architecture, in which the design was determined at the stage of initial development and could not be changed until the end of operation or a radical modernization, which removed the station from combat duty for a long time.

Modularity, maximum unification and universalization of equipment make it possible to create radar versions with different potentials. Independent radar modules allow relatively quickly, in just one and a half to two months, to assemble and test ready-made stations on the ground, and, if necessary, change their configuration.

During the 1990s - 2000s. work to maintain and increase the characteristics of missile and space defense systems continued. The missile attack warning system was developed on the basis of the Daryal and Volga ground-based radars and the US-KMO space system. In addition, the resource of Dnepr stations and data transmission systems is supported. The modernization of the early warning system command posts and their software and algorithmic support continued.

In addition, as part of the development of early warning systems, the development of the Unified Space System is currently ongoing, which will become the basis of the space echelon of the missile attack warning system. Its implementation will significantly reduce the time of detection of ballistic missile launches.

Already in 2009-2016, a number of the most modern radar stations were put into military operation, fully complying with the principles of open architecture and high factory readiness "Voronezh-M" and "Voronezh-DM" in the Leningrad, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad and Orenburg regions, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories.

At Voronezh stations, the level of energy consumption and the volume of technological equipment have been significantly reduced. The new radars are capable of solving the tasks of detecting, tracking, classifying and processing information not only for ballistic targets and space objects, but also for aerodynamic targets located in the established zone of responsibility of the station.

Main directions further development Missile attack warning systems:

• Expansion of the composition of early warning information means and increasing the reliability of missile attack warning information.
• Improving the command posts of the system using the latest information technologies to create on their basis a network-centric control loop, expand the range of tasks to be solved, including for new types of targets, reduce the likelihood of false alarms and develop information interaction with intelligence systems, automated systems control of types and branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as means and systems of air defense and missile defense.
• Development of the space echelon of early warning systems to expand controlled areas and increase the likelihood of detecting ballistic missile launches.
• Creation of a closed radar field based on Russian-based high-factory readiness radars of various ranges to ensure effective control of all missile-hazardous directions.
• Increasing the characteristics of early warning radar systems in relation to all existing and promising types of missile and space attack weapons.
• Permanent reconnaissance of the background-target situation - test and combat training launches of strategic and non-strategic ballistic missiles of foreign states.

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 (SPRN) was marked by an event that experts know about, and even then not all of them. It was in 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 Central Committee of the CPSU A.P. Kirilenko, Minister of Defense of the USSR D.F. Ustinov and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR V.G. Kulikov received the so-called "nuclear briefcases". 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 the control points of the Supreme High Command and commands of all branches of the country's Armed Forces.

In the article, based on information open sources the history of the creation of a missile attack warning system is briefly outlined, which, based on the processing huge amount information from various means detection and allocation of the necessary data should issue a reliable signal "Missile attack" 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 at enemy territory and conduct various kinds reconnaissance from space. With all the acuteness, the question arose of providing them with effective counteraction. In the first 15-20 post-war years, the explosive development of aviation and space-rocket technology caused a serious discussion by the military leadership of countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain of numerous projects for manned and automatic space attack weapons, aerospace and hypersonic bombers. However, over time, the understanding came that a whole range of problems is associated with the implementation of such projects.

First of these, the most understandable was the problem of combating ICBM warheads (by analogy with aircraft). However, for the timely interception of a missile (warhead) in the air (before the task was completed and the designated object was destroyed), it was necessary to detect it at a distance that ensured the timely setting of tasks for fire weapons. And this, in turn, required the availability of early warning means. To solve this problem in 1961, the general designer V.N. Chelomey proposed to create a satellite system for early detection. At that time, OKB-52, headed by him, was working on two space projects for military purposes - an IS anti-satellite system ("satellite fighter") and a controlled reconnaissance satellite (CS). The inability to deploy ground-based (ship and air) 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-based early warning system for the mass launch of ICBMs. OKB-52 was appointed the lead contractor for this project, and A.A. Design Bureau - 1 was appointed the contractor for the control complex. Raspletina.

Second, even more difficult problem, was the task of timely detection and possible destruction of military spacecraft, the first of which were reconnaissance satellites. However, to destroy the target satellite, it was necessary to detect it and determine the coordinates, put the interceptor satellite into orbit, bring it to the target at the required distance and undermine 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 finder).

Third the problem was the need for the earliest possible detection of the launch of enemy missiles and which is fundamentally different from the problem of early detection of warheads within the framework of the anti-missile defense (ABM) system. Therefore, to solve these problems, early warning radar stations (RLS) are used in the missile attack warning system, combined into RO units, and in the missile defense system - early warning radars. Subsequently, units with over-the-horizon long-range (line-of-sight) radars, which provide target detection after it appears above the radio horizon, became the basis of the early warning system. In the United States, 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 BEAMUSE medium trajectory detection system. Due to geographic reasons in the USSR, it was decided to supplement the space-based system with several over-the-horizon radar stations (OH RLS), using the effect of reflection of a radio beam from the ionosphere and enveloping the earth's surface. This idea was formulated for the first time in the world in 1947 by N.I. Kabanov, and a pilot plant was built in Mytishchi to confirm it. The practical implementation of over-the-horizon location in the USSR is associated with the name of E.S. Shtyren who did not know about the discovery of Kabanov and at the end of 1950. made a proposal for the detection of aircraft at ranges of 1000-3000 km, in January 1961 submitted a report on the research "Duga". It recorded the results of calculations and experimental studies on the reflective surfaces of aircraft, missiles and the high-altitude wake of the latter, and also proposed a method for isolating weak signal from the target against the background of powerful reflections from the earth's surface. The work was positively evaluated and with recommendations to confirm the theoretical results by practical experiments.

Fourth the problem, also very complex, was the rapid growth in the number of objects in outer space. Satellite detection systems (OS), early detection systems (EO) and EO radars should work for "their" specific targets and not be fixed on others, which could be ensured only if there was a constant accounting of all space objects. There was a need to create a special space control service (KKP), which was supposed to create and maintain a catalog of space objects, which gave knowledge about potentially dangerous spacecraft and the emergence of new ones. Awareness of these and other problems of rocket and space defense by the top leadership of the country led to the issuance of two Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of November 15, 1962: "On the creation of a detection and target designation system for the IP system, missile attack warning systems and an experimental complex for ultra-long-range detection of launches BR, nuclear explosions and aircraft beyond the horizon" and "On the creation of a domestic service of the KKP".

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, an advance project was completed, according to which such a system included 20 satellites evenly spaced in one polar orbit at a height of 3600 km for round-the-clock surveillance of the United States. As conceived by the developers, satellites weighing 1400 kg with infrared sensors were supposed to detect launched rockets 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 (SC) were required for permanent observation. In addition, the time of operation of these spacecraft in orbit in that historical period did not exceed one month. Did not stand up to criticism and available as of the early 1960s. thermal direction-finding equipment, which does not provide a sufficient level of useful signal against the background of noise from the underlying surface and propagation medium, as well as insufficient knowledge of many issues (atmospheric characteristics, torch parameters of the Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, 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 the preliminary design, the developers abandoned IR detection in favor of television facilities. After the removal in 1964, V.N. Chelomey from project management, KB-1 became the lead one, A.I. was appointed chief designer. Savin, and instead of the UR-200, the carrier was identified as Cyclone-2, developed by the Yangel Design Bureau.

In 1965, the US-K low-orbit system project with eighteen satellites in orbit was completed and initially approved by the Ministry of Defense. However, KB-1 specialists were increasingly inclined in favor of highly elliptical orbits. In this case, the satellite at apogee seems to hang for several hours over one region of the earth's surface, which makes it possible to reduce the number of spacecraft by several times.

The expediency of this was also 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 since 1971 began work on the deployment of the IMEUS system (IMEWS), which by 1975 had 3 satellites in geostationary orbit. It was believed that they would be enough to monitor launches from the territory of the USSR and control the ocean zone around the North American continent. Ultimately, based on US own calculations and experience, it was concluded that it was worthwhile placing satellites in geostationary orbit, despite the possible difficulties in using 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 monitoring system for rocket launches.

According to this project, the US-K high-orbit system was to include a spacecraft 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 with subsequent charging for 6 hours of batteries from solar panels. For the rapid transmission of information to ground stations, a high-speed radio link was provided for the first time.

The first device for testing the technology of the new system ("Kosmos-520") was launched into orbit in September 1972. It and the subsequent ones were equipped with infrared and television detection devices. The third device in this series ("Cosmos-665") with television equipment on 12/24/1972 recorded the launch of the Minuteman BMR at night. Nevertheless, 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.

Initially, it was supposed 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 place the satellites in orbit so that they were observing 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. For neutralization possible consequences in 1972 it was decided to place an additional satellite in geostationary orbit. However, the limited capabilities of solar batteries at that time ensured its performance for 6 hours, and the rest of the time the batteries were recharged.

As a result, it became necessary to double the set of satellites in elliptical orbits, and in the final form the system was to include 9 vehicles. As part of the work on this system, in 1976 Cosmos-862 was launched into orbit from the first in the USSR on-board computer on integrated circuits. In 1978, the space echelon of the early warning system consisted of 5 vehicles in highly elliptical orbits, but the development of the equipment for the control and reception station, as well as the equipment for processing it, was not completed. Due to a possible delay and a real threat to the existence of the program, it was decided to accept in January 1979 the US-K system with spacecraft equipped with thermal direction finding sensors for trial joint operation by the forces of the Ministry of Defense and manufacturers with parallel testing of the system and bringing it to the staffing level of the spacecraft until the end of 1981.

The resource of the satellites of the first series did not exceed 3 months, in the subsequent - 3 years. This required significant expenditures to maintain the constellation of the required composition (the American Imeyus-2 satellites operated in orbit for 5-7 years). Therefore, for the entire period of development and operation of the US-K system and its further version US-KS, about 80 satellites have been in orbit. By the time the SPRN spacecraft constellation was brought to full strength, the cost of its creation and operation had increased three times compared to the planned one. Nevertheless, the system was gradually brought to the required level and on 04/05/1979 it became part of the missile attack warning army. In July of the same year, she recorded the launch of the carrier from the Kwajalein Atoll already in automatic operation. In 1980, 6 satellites were launched into elliptical orbits, and the system itself was associated with early warning systems. By 1982, a false alarm rate was obtained that exceeded the normative indicators terms of reference and on December 30 of this year, the space system with 6 satellites took up combat duty.

Space Control Center(TsKKP) was an important element of the early warning system and, according to the project, had 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 gradually increasing the capacity, number and types of detection nodes involved and improving the algorithms for processing large flows of information about the space situation. The construction of its main elements near the city of Noginsk began in 1966, and already in early 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 (03/05/1970 was transferred to the command of the missile defense and anti-aircraft defense forces).

Since the beginning of 1969, the functions of control of outer space, which had previously been assigned to the 45th Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, were officially transferred to the Central Control Commission. In the same year, state tests of the first stage of the Central Control Commission took place as part of a computing complex based on one computer, a data transmission line and one operator's workplace. Taking into account the radar posts and optical observation posts (OPS) that worked as part of the Central Control Commission, its capabilities at this stage made it possible to process about 4000 radar and about 200 optical measurements daily and maintain a catalog of 500 space objects.

In 1973, the second stage of development of the Central Control Commission began, during which it was supposed to put into operation 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. In terms of its capabilities, the Center was already able to process up to 30 thousand measurements per day, with a main catalog capacity of up to 1800 objects. main task The Central Control Commission provided the solution of other tasks as well. In particular, it was used to support the flights of domestic spacecraft in the conditions of a 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 TsKKP was re-equipped with the new Elbrus computer, which significantly expanded the range of tasks it solved. In addition to the indicated sources of information, he became able to receive and process information from the Window electro-optical complex and the Krona radio-optical complex. Its capabilities and structure changed, which was due to a change in the structure of the outer space control system, as well as the involvement of the Center to perform tasks of general civilian purpose.

Ground echelon early warning system

The first developments of satellite detection systems (OS) and missile attack warning (RO) as constituent parts rocket and space defense (RKO) in the Soviet Union began in the 50s. after the advent of satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles. In the same period, the Radio Engineering Institute (RTI) of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A.L. Mints began the development of the first domestic radar "Dnestr" (estimated detection range up to 3250 km), which was intended to detect attacking ICBMs and space objects. After the completion of field tests of a prototype of this radar in July 1962, it was decided (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 North America in the northwest direction, as well as from the US west coast and from the Indian and Pacific oceans in the 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 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 a 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 apparatus under the official name "Cosmos-185" was launched on 10/27/1967 by the "Cyclone-2A" rocket designed by Yangel. As early as November 1, 1968, the Cosmos-252 satellite approached the Cosmos-248 satellite to the estimated distance and carried out the first successful space interception. In August 1970, an interception of a space target was obtained during the operation of the full complement of the standard means of the IS complex, and in December 1972 its state tests were completed. In February 1972, a government decree assigned the development of the IS-M complex with an expanded interception zone (for the IS system, this zone was orbits with an altitude of 120 to 1000 km). In November 1978, it was put into service, and the Central Research Institute "Kometa" began to develop 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 the main command and computer center (GKVTs). 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 55 minutes in the radio silence mode in low orbit. 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 for spacecraft notches on subsequent orbits.

According to one of the opinions, it was possible to accurately determine the parameters of the trajectory of the spacecraft target on the very first orbit by obtaining information from a large number OS nodes on the territory of the USSR. However, this involved a very large amount of construction and installation work and related costs. Therefore, the method was used when five antennas were located 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 the achievement of the required accuracy at a much lower cost.

In the course of work on the creation of early warning systems, it was found that the same radar facilities can provide the determination of satellite trajectories and over-the-horizon detection of enemy ICBMs. As a result, it was decided to return to the version of the TsSO-P meter-range radar, previously proposed by A.L. Mints. At the same time (December 1961), autonomous tests of this radar were carried out at Balkhash, which confirmed the possibility of its use as a base station for building an OS system.

The basis for the start of work on the creation of an early warning radar (DO) in 1954 was a special decision of the Government of the USSR on the development of proposals for the creation of an anti-missile defense (ABM) in Moscow. Its most important elements were considered to be DO radars, which, at a distance of several thousand kilometers, were supposed to detect enemy missiles, warheads and determine their coordinates with high accuracy. In 1956, the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On missile defense" A.L. Mints was appointed one of the chief designers of the DO radar, and in the same year, studies began in Kazakhstan on the reflective parameters of BR warheads launched from the Kapustin Yar test site.

The OS system was based on two nodes separated by 2000 km, creating a radar field through which the bulk of satellites flying over the territory of the USSR should pass. The leading OS-1 node in the Irkutsk region solved the tasks of detecting and determining the coordinates of satellites with subsequent transmission of information to the command and measurement point (CIP, Noginsk region), designed to recognize objects, determine the degree of their danger and solve the problem of interception.

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's homing head, did not exceed 0.5. To increase it, a two-turn method was used, in which the "satellite fighter" started after the first passage of the target over OS-1, which specified the coordinates of the IS, and the OS-2 node (Gulshad) specified the coordinates of the target's orbit. These data were received by the CIP, which processed them and transmitted them in the form of commands to the interceptor for additional maneuvering and entering the IS into the range of its GOS for the purpose of subsequent homing and destruction of the enemy spacecraft. In this case, the probability of hitting the target reached 0.9-0.95.

Thus, the OS-1 and OS-2 nodes should have stations of the TsSO-P polygon type. Taking into account the 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. In the course of 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 equipment for display, control and technological support.

Construction at the OS-1 and OS-2 nodes began in the spring of 1964, and in the same year, tests of the Dnestr radar model, assembled on the basis of the TsSO-P range, were completed at Balkhash. The first tested radar cell with the Dnestr 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 (SKKP) 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 height of 200-1500 km in the zone of outer space where most of the potential enemy spacecraft passed.

But already in 1966, an improved version of this station "Dnestr-M" was developed. Compared with the prototype, its energy was increased by 5 times, the range resolution was improved by 16 times, which also increased to 6000 km, and the use of semiconductor equipment, in addition to the transmitter, significantly improved reliability and operational 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 detection altitude of satellites increased to 2500 km. In 1972, the fifth cells with the Dnestr-M radar were put into service at both nodes, and all the means (OS-1, OS-2, TsKKP) were combined into a single information system within a separate space reconnaissance division.

To be continued.

I remember the talk that after the collapse of the USSR, half of our country was simply "blind" and not covered from the air. The military honestly admitted that there are holes in the control and surveillance system where they have no idea what is happening during combat duty.

The USSR had one of the best missile attack warning systems of its time. It was based on radar stations located on the territory of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine. The collapse of the Union destroyed its integrity. In the Baltic States, a fully functional Daryal-type station was defiantly blown up shortly after gaining independence. According to experts, under pressure from NATO, Kyiv closed its Dnepr-type anti-missile radars. Another radar station was in Azerbaijan near the village of Gabala. Considered the most powerful in the world. But she also stopped working. Only Belarus has fulfilled and is fulfilling an agreement with Russia on its Volga radar station.

By 2000, Russia had effectively lost the ability to receive timely data on a missile attack. Moreover, back in the mid-1990s, with the degradation of the radio engineering services of the Air Defense Forces, our country lost a single radar field.

If in the USSR the entire airspace over a vast country was monitored around the clock by numerous radar systems, then the Russian Federation was no longer able to do this.

This was not mentioned, but it was not a secret either - the sky above new Russia turned out to be out of control in many places. Not only light aircraft, but also large airliners could fly without any radar support. And it happened when a passenger plane, and even more so a helicopter, crashed somewhere in the taiga, they searched for it for weeks, since it was not known exactly where it disappeared.

And now...

And now, as Spetsstroy of Russia reports, in the Vorkuta region, work is underway to build a new radar complex for early warning of a missile attack warning system (SPRN) and space control "Voronezh-VP".

The Voronezh-VP radar complex under construction consists of two radar stations of the meter and centimeter range. Meter stations have a good practical experience. They have already been tested in Irkutsk and Orsk. The centimeter station will be tested for the first time in Vorkuta. The viewing range of the radar station under construction is about 6,000 kilometers. She will take up combat duty in 2018.

The first such station "Voronezh-M" (M means that the station of the meter range) began to build in May 2005 in the village of Lekhtusi, Leningrad Region. And already in December 2006, she was put on experimental combat duty. This became a world record for the speed of construction and commissioning, albeit a trial one, of such a complex radar complex.

As it turned out, the specialists of the Research Institute for Long-Range Radio Communications and other enterprises that are part of the specialized concern "Radio Engineering and Information Systems", developed not only the latest and very powerful radar, but also the first in the world to implement the technology of the so-called high factory readiness.

The radar, capable of detecting small and high-speed targets at a distance of thousands of kilometers, has a modular design, assembled from blocks built and debugged at the factory. Previously, stations with similar characteristics were built in terms of five to nine years. Now for a year and a half.

VHF stations very organically complement Voronezh-DM UHF stations.

In February 2009, near the city of Armavir in the Krasnodar Territory, the first Voronezh-DM radar was put on experimental combat duty. Two radar buildings have a height of a ten-story building. They contain, figuratively speaking, the electronic brain of the station. It is important that the most modern equipment is mainly of domestic production.

The huge screen of the command post displays a sector of view in the southwest and southeast strategic directions from Europe to India. The Armavir radar is capable of detecting launches of ballistic and cruise missiles from the air, land and from submarines at a distance of up to six thousand kilometers. An ultra-high-speed computer instantly determines the trajectory of the missile and the place where the warhead is likely to fall.

Just one "Voronezh-DM" near Armavir provides the information that was previously collected from three huge radar stations located on the territory of Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Radar "Voronezh-DM" was created under the leadership of the General Designer of the Research Institute of Long-Range Radio Communications Sergey Saprykin.

For readers of "RG" Sergei Dmitrievich revealed some secrets. According to him, the modularity of the design of domestic radars of high factory readiness makes it possible to build and put into operation the most powerful radar systems anywhere in Russia in just one and a half to two years. No more than two hundred specialists can serve them. For comparison, thousands of highly qualified specialists should serve and work at similar facilities built according to old designs.

Everyone knows that the United States is actively creating a European missile defense system. The Americans have always claimed the superior effectiveness of the anti-missile defense that they have imposed on the Europeans. However, information has recently appeared that the protection of the European missile defense system is not very effective. However, this has never been a secret for our specialists.

General Designer Sergei Saprykin believes, and there is no doubt about the competence of his opinion, that the Americans have only one single missile defense radar station, which has characteristics similar to those possessed by Voronezh-DM. This is a cyclopean in size and very expensive to maintain UEWR radar, which is located on the island of Greenland and is part of the US national missile defense system. In appearance, it is similar to the Soviet anti-missile radars of the Daryal type. Operates in the decimeter range, has two antennas. There are no other radar stations that are close in their characteristics to the capabilities of the Voronezh-DM either in the United States or in other NATO countries. And we have the assembly of such radars put on a conveyor stream.

Russian technologies make it possible, for example, in the future to assemble modular radars not only for military purposes, but also those that will be able to track space hazards on a global scale, in particular, to detect asteroids and large meteorites dangerously approaching our planet in a timely manner. It turns out that "Voronezh" can protect not only Russia, but the whole Earth.

Now the construction of a new generation of radar stations of both meter and decimeter ranges is underway in the Orenburg region and in the Komi Republic. Radars of the "Voronezh-DM" type near Kaliningrad and "Voronezh-M" near Irkutsk took up combat duty. And two more radar stations near Krasnoyarsk and in the Altai Territory in the south of Central Siberia will begin to operate in the mode of experimental combat duty.

In the future, it is planned to build and put into operation several more radar stations of the Voronezh-M and Voronezh-DM types in the Amur Region, not far from Orsk, Vorkuta and Murmansk. The range of these stations will be at least six thousand kilometers. Russia will acquire radar protection not only in the air, but also in outer space.

sources

In the second half of the 50s, the development of the first domestic radar station "Dniester" began, designed for the early detection of attacking ballistic missiles and space objects. This radar was tested at the Sary-Shagan test site, and in November 1962, ten such radars were ordered to be built 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 the strategy of a retaliatory strike in the event of a nuclear missile strike by a potential enemy, because the fact of a sudden undiscovered missile attack was ruled out.

The threat of early detection of the launch and flight of ballistic missiles, and hence imminent retribution, forced the United States to negotiate with the USSR on the reduction of strategic weapons and the limitation of missile defense systems. The ABM Treaty, signed in 1972, was for almost 30 years effective factor ensuring strategic stability in the world.

Subsequently, along with the grouping of over-the-horizon radar facilities 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 stations for receiving and processing information. The two-tier construction of information means of the PRN system, operating on various physical principles, created the prerequisites for its stable operation in any conditions and an increase in one of the main indicators of its functioning - the reliability of the formation of warning information.

In 1976, the missile attack warning system as part of the SPRN command post with the new 5E66 computer and the Crocus warning system, 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, it was put into service and put on combat duty as part of the RO-1 node of the Daugava radar, the first radar with phased array (prototype of the future Daryal radar), and spacecraft in geostationary orbit were introduced into the US-K system (US system -KS).

From the moment of testing and putting the US-K system on combat duty, about a hundred launches of spacecraft with a thermal direction-finding detection system have been made into highly elliptical (73D6 type spacecraft) and stationary (74X6 type spacecraft) orbits. The launches were carried out from the Plesetsk and Baikonur cosmodromes, where special complexes were created for 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 PRN (the first commander was Colonel General V.K. Strelnikov).

In 1984, the head model of the Daryal radar, created at the RO-3O (Pechora) node, was adopted by the Soviet Army, and a year later, in 1985, the second sample of the Daryal radar was commissioned at the RO-7 node (Gabala, Azerbaijan).

In the 80s, the creation of three Daryal-U radars in the regions of Balkhash, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, two Daryal-UM radars in the Mukachevo and Riga regions was set, and work was launched to develop a series of Volga radars to create a dual-band radar field SPRN.

In 1980, for the Daryal-type radar, the development of a new high-performance domestic computer M-13 began. In 1984, after clarifying the appearance of the radar, which made it possible to simplify and reduce the cost of mass production, a decision was made to create the lead radar "Volga" in the western missile-prone 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, the construction of three Daryal-U radars and two Daryal-UM radars was completed.

After the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant(1986) and the termination of the operation of the first unit of the Duga-1 ZGRL, the question arises of the advisability of using the second unit of the ZGRL for its intended purpose