Commander of the Space Forces, General Oleg Ostapenko, was quoted by the Russian press as saying that Russia has built a new early-warning radar in the Kaliningrad region. According to Ostapenko, the new radar is "already functioning, even though the construction work has not been finished yet." He also confirmed that another radar is being built near Irkutsk.
The book
Comments
It overlaps the radar on Baranovichi. Why to construct a Early-warning radar there?
Is this a Voronezh-DM class radar? And if so isn't it redundant with the one near St. Peters? Or is it intended to replace the Don class in Belarus? (which would be odd given that it was only finished in 2003 and is far from the end of its service life)
I agree - placing a radar in the Kaliningrad region is a bit strange. There is no reason not to believe Ostapenko, but on the other hand, you never know with Russian generals. For the moment I put a question mark in the title - we'll see how this story develops.
Kaliningrad radar = 4.43 bln roubles.
See here:
http://www.ng.ru/politics/2008-10-20/3_kartblansh.html
Voronezh price = 2.85 bln roubles.
http://www.arms-expo.ru/site.xp/049051050056124049055051051.html
Thank you. By the way, it is not all that clear that it's an early-warning radar. Then, if it is, it might be of the Lekhtusi or Armavir type - this might explain the difference in price.
What's the cost of the Armavir radar?
What's the cost of the Lekthusi radar?
Perhaps the new radar system in Kaliningrad is a surveillance system rather than early warning? That would make more sense.
Frank Shuler
USA
An airspace control or surveillance radar would make more sense.
What about the radar near Irkutsk, that is a Voronezh-DM? To replace the iirc Dnepr currently in service there?
Any ideas at which location we can expect this Radar?
I mean, will it replace an existing system there?
Thanks
Seems the cold war airfield of Marienkhof (54°51′54″N 020°11′6″E) is a place worthwhile to keep an eye on it :-)
Well, there are a few clod-war places there. I hope something show up.
What puzzles me is the purpose of deploying this kind of facility in Kaliningrad Oblast. As for early-warning site it is absolutely to close to the "enemy" - it can be destroyed within minutes by artillery or rocket-artillery fire from NATO territories (KO is roughly 200x100 km of land wedged between Poland and Lithuania). So if I may guess I’ll follow Frank Shuler’s suggestion: the main purpose of this radar is rather surveillance than early-warning.
If it is there at all. As Pavel pointed out: You'll never know with Russian generals.
m
Russian Wiki says that it is Voronezh-DM radar :-)
A Voronezh-DM in Kaliningrad sounds insane. Nor does the wiki site you list mention one. It mentions one in Irkutsk. Is that what you meant?
Why is a early warning node in Kaliningrad "insane"?
Daryal-UM radar node in Skrunda worked despite being on the border of USSR. And, anyway, something does need to replace the Volga radar in Baranovichi, Belarus, when that one becomes obsolete.
The Wikipedia article does note that the decimeter band Voronezh is located in Svetlogorsk (just north of the city of Kaliningrad), while a meter band Voronezh is being constructed in Usolye-Sibirskoye (north-west of Irkutsk and close to the current radar node at Mishelevka). Although, I've seen no other official confirmation of this either from MoD or the contractors (RTI Systems, etc.).
See non-secret Year Report-2009:
http://www.rosstm.ru/_files/editor/file/docs/Otchet.pdf
...on this official site:
http://www.rosstm.ru/about/corporate/
Alexander: Thank you! This is very good. A search for "77Я6-ВП" shows a few interesting documents.
So, as far as I understood from a quick look, the radar in Irkutsk (77Я6-ВП) is different from the ones in Lekhtusi (77Я6-М) and Armavir (77Я6-ДМ). The Kaliningrad radar appears to be the same as the Armavir - 77Я6-ДМ.
Possible explanations:
- Russia doesn't like to have early warning radars on non-Russian lands and plans to shut-down the LPAR in Baranovichi.
- May be this site is planned to replace the LPAR in Mukachevo since the site on Armavir is not optimally placed to look to the south-west.
- The usual paranoia about the "threat from the west" is pushing to have a redundant network toward NATO countries. That's, for me, a waste of resources.
Kolokol.
The Armavir station is actually pointed south-west, toward the Med, North Africa and maritime Middle East. It does not cover the same quadrant as the Qabala or the Ukrainian radars.
You can see the coverage clearly on this image from the station's control room.
There are two radars in Armavir. The NK picture shows coverage of the first one.
You think these are both radar arrays, Pavel?
http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CZajUdT
Then why is it never declared anywhere, I wonder? I've never heard about this before.
Yes, these are the radars. They were reported at the time. Novosti kosmonavtiki has a nice set of photos from the location.