One of my readers (thank you, SL) pointed out that someone identified the location of the Voronezh-M radar at Mishelevka and posted a photo of the radar there.
Construction of the radar was first reported in December 2010. It appears to be located in front of the site of the Daryal-U transmitter building (which may have no longer be there - the reciever was demolished in June 2011). In March 2012, the minister of defense said that the Voronezh-M radar in Mishelevka is undergoing trials.
The book
Comments
Yeah - I think with the help of this guy we can figure out the position of the Antenna
compare
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg856/scaled.php?server=856&filename=mishelevka.jpg&res=landing
and
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg256/scaled.php?server=256&filename=mishelevkadaryalutransm.jpg&res=landing
cheers
Video of both Daryal buildings being blown up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LVDYTttqqw
People are commenting that it has 6 segments rather than the 3 of Lekhtusi: http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/15290/
http://dedugan530.livejournal.com/227953.html (which also has something about a new OTH radar?)
Is it a Voronezh VP rather an a M? http://lenta.ru/news/2011/12/12/modernize/ P always seemed to indicate a prototype/polygon before.
One of those blogs says that the Daryal was used as a research radar. I've found information that one of the straight array Dnestr ones is still used as an ionospheric scatter radar: http://lfvn.astronomer.ru/report/0000048/Irkutsk_IS_Radar.pdf It's the NW one - they've taken the covering off exposing the array and given some technical info!
This is Voronezh-VP (77Ya6-VP).
"VP" is "vysokopotentsialny" = high potential.
Thank you. This is very interesting. As far as I can tell, the video shows the receiver from three different cameras. I don't see the transmitter building there.
On Voronezh-VP, Aleksandr answered it already. Apparently, VP is the six-section Voronezh-M.
Daryal-U in Mishelevka never went operational, so it's most definitely not the research radar that was mentioned. The old Dnestr radars was indeed used for research.
Finally, I'd be skeptical about OTH radars - they were not particularly successful in the past.
There is no Dnestr in Irkutsk.
It is Dnepr:
http://old.redstar.ru/2011/02/16_02/3_03.html
Is it a Dnepr or is it a Dnestr?
Thanks for the link - that describes the V, and maybe the currently operating straight one too.
The 4 straight array ones were built as Dnestr (or Dnestr-M?). Were they all upgraded to Dnepr before being decommissioned?
I don't know of anything good that describes the differences between Dnestr and Dnepr. The first Dnestr were SKKP, but the Dnestr-M were SPRN? The arrays of the straight array ones are clearly still different, even if modernised.
If I remember correctly, Dnepr is a deep upgrade of Dnestr. It doesn't have anything to do with the shape, though.
Initially Dnestr was designed and deployed in two variants (modifications): early warning (RO-1 Murmansk and RO-2 Riga sites) and space (anti-satellite) defense (OS-1 Irkutsk and OS-2 Balkhash sites).
"RO" is "rannee obnaruzhenie" = early warning.
"OS" is "obnaruzhenie sputnikov" = detection of satellites.
These modifications differed with the main software (as types of the targets in two variants were different). New Dnepr combined in itself both functions, but it was structurally constructed on Dnestr basis.
Thank you!
BTW: there have been a major update on Terraserver
here http://www.terraserver.com/view.asp?cx=20.182204&cy=54.857324&proj=4326&mpp=0.75&pic=-1&prov=-1&stac=-1&sdrt=jax
you have the first clear picture of the Kalinigrad site
Cheers
Thank you very much! It's a good picture indeed.
http://topwar.ru/10085-radiolokacionnye-stancii-dalnego-obnaruzheniya-sprn-voronezh.html Military Review have some nice pictures of Voronezh-VP antenna components laid out at Mishelevka.
They say that the one being built covers the south east, which must make it a replacement for the Dnepr straight array radar there. A later Voronezh will cover the south, which is one face of the 'V' Dnepr.
I presume from this that the other face (NE) will be not be replaced. Was that face actually compliant with the ABM treaty as it appears to face inwards?
The pictures are interesting, but some information there is rather suspect. For example, I very much doubt Russia will ever consider building a new radar in Azerbaijan.
I've certainly seen that elsewhere. I think it comes from RTI. I've found references here:
http://www.ng.ru/cis/2011-12-14/1_gabala.html
Armenia has also offered to host a Voronezh if Azerbaijan don't agree to the extending the lease on Gabala which ends in December. This kind of thing: http://www.arminfo.am/english/politics/article/18-04-2012/15-38-00
However I'm not sure how seriously to take any of this.
I guess it's possible to build a radar anywhere. But the whole point of the current round of construction is to have radars in Russia and avoid headache of the kind they have in Azerbaijan right now. So, I would assess the chances of a new radar in Azerbaijan or Armenia as nil.
Do you think they genuinely want to keep Gabala? The claimed requested rent of £300m per year would give them an easy way of leaving.
300m USD, not GBP.
http://www.ria.ru/defense_safety/20120505/641665506.html
Another Voronezh announcement. Mishelevka to go on alert some time in May. Armavir (presumably only one of them) to go on combat duty by the end of the year.