The rapid development of weapons of attack makes high demands on the tactical and technical parameters of warning means about possible aggression. The Daryal radar (radar) has been an important element of such systems for almost two decades.
On the brink
In 1960, the United States launched a program to deploy the latest intercontinental ballistic missiles, Minuteman-1, capable of launching a few seconds after receiving the appropriate command. The tactics of conducting a possible Third World War have changed; the main role in delivering a decisive blow now belonged not to strategic military aviation, but to missile launchers. In the mid-60s, the United States had a seventeen-fold superiority in more advanced means of delivering nuclear charges, which made it possible to destroy the entire atomic potential of the Soviet Union in one gulp.
To provide early warning of an impending attack in the USSR, a special missile attack warning system (SPRN) began to be created back in 1960.
Convincing argument
It is noteworthy that some military officials could not fully realize the importance of the system being designed, calling it a waste of government resources on equipment that does not damage the enemy and does not destroy his missiles. At one of the decisive meetings of the Military Industrial Commission, in response to another criticism, academician, lieutenant general, engineer A. N. Shchukin quoted lines from Pushkin's "Tales of the Golden Cockerel" - those where "The Faithful Watchman will shake up, turn around and scream. .. ". The literary example had an effect on skeptics and, according to a government decree of 1962, a project began to create a complex for the early detection of attacking missiles. The first generation of the Dniester radar and its modified version of the Dnieper, even before being put into service, lost relevance. They were unable to control missiles with small warheads created by a potential adversary.
All-seeing eye
In 1966, work began on the Radiotechnical Institute to create a radically new radar with a huge radiation power - the Daryal radar, capable of detecting an object the size of a soccer ball at a distance of 6 thousand km. The chief designer was appointed Viktor Ivantsov.
The first construction of the Daryal radar was supposed to be built in the most missile-dangerous direction. More than a third of all intercontinental missiles in the US arsenal were aimed at the capital of the Soviet Union - Moscow - and the central regions of the country, with a flight path through the North Pole. Preliminary calculations by experts showed that the station should be located as far north as possible (approximately in the area of ​​Franz Josef Land), but such a large-scale construction in severe Arctic conditions is fraught with great difficulties. It was decided to build a station on the mainland.
Radar "Daryal". Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
For deployment, an area was chosen near the city of Pechora, just 200 km from the Arctic Circle. Due to the enormous power consumption of the equipment, the project began simultaneously with the construction of the Pechora State District Power Plant in 1974. The Daryal radar is based on a huge range of equipment, consisting of more than 4 thousand units of electronic radio equipment. High-rise buildings of the receiving (100 m) and transmitting (40 m) antennas are spaced a certain distance, verified to a millimeter. Energy and water consumption of the station were equivalent to the needs of a medium-sized city, with a population of 100 thousand people. The pulse power of the Daryal radar (Pechora - Pechora, according to NATO classification) in the peak exceeded 370 MW.
To maintain and replace the radioelement blocks of the phased array antenna (PAR) during operation, a special robotic complex is provided. The station’s computing system is based on a microprocessor vector-parallel computer capable of performing more than 5 million operations per second.
The first at a combat post
Pechora radar "Daryal" in January 1984, having successfully passed a series of tests, was adopted. Builders and engineering personnel managed to meet the deadlines, despite the abundance of difficulties of a natural and technical nature.
So, when pouring the foundation plate, frost suddenly hit. Russian ingenuity helped to prevent freezing of concrete - the mixture was heated with home-made electrodes, applying electric voltage to them.
Another emergency occurred during the commissioning. The radio-transparent cover of the transmitting center ignited. Due to the lack of regular fire-fighting means, more than 80% of the surface burned out. Having mobilized all possible reserves, within two months the manufacturing plant in Syzran produced a new canvas (it would have taken at least a year to create in normal mode), and the fire consequences were eliminated as soon as possible. For reference: taking into account the incident, a shelter made of non-combustible material was developed for subsequent radars of the project.
In space watch
The first of the project, Daryal radar (Pechora) took up combat duty. A photo of the structure gives a visual representation of the scale of the work performed. In total, six more similar nodes were to be erected, located along the perimeter of the country, enclosing the territory in an impenetrable radar ring:
- "Gabala", Azerbaijan SSR.
- Skrunda, Latvian SSR.
- "Beregovo", Mukachevo, Ukrainian SSR.
- "Balkhash", Kazakh SSR.
- "Michelevka", Irkutsk region.
- Yeniseisk, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The node in Pechora fully controlled the entire northern direction. The second and last, realized and put into operation project of the first stage was the station in Azerbaijan.
Watching the Southern Frontiers
The construction of an object near the village. Kutkashen (after the collapse of the USSR - Gabala) in the Transcaucasian republic began in 1982. The work area covered more than 200 hectares. About 20 thousand military builders were involved. The date the Daryal (Gabala) radar was put on combat duty is considered to be February 1985, although the full construction work was completed only three years later. The main structural difference of the Gabala node is the lack of a computer system. The obtained observation data was broadcast to Shvertbot and Kvadrat information processing centers located in the Moscow Region.
The station completely controlled the southern strategic direction, covering the lands of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, North Africa, Pakistan and India, most of the Indian Ocean, including the coast of Australia. The radar station in Gabala confirmed its technical excellence during the Iran-Iraq conflict, regularly recording all combat launches of Iraq's Scud missiles (139 pieces) and during Operation Desert Storm (302 launches).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the agreements concluded between the governments of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan allowed the unit in the southern part of the Caucasian Range to continue to perform military service until 2012, when the station was withdrawn from the Russian Special Forces.
Skrund Show
In the mid-80s of the last century, 4 km from the town of Skrunda (Latvian SSR), next to the existing Dnepr radar (Skrunda-1 object), construction of another Daryal of a standard design began. After the construction of the receiving antenna and the delivery of equipment (1990), it was assumed that at the first stage, the Dnieper radar will be used as the emitter. But after gaining independence by the Baltic republics, the object became the property of Latvia. The efforts of the Russian side aimed at preserving the radar did not bring any positive results, and in 1994 the Russian military left the station.
A year later, the receiving antenna was destroyed by employees of an American company. Foreign experts demonstrated the real show to the Latvians. Before the explosion, they arranged a colorful firework over the entire height of the building, and after the main charges were fired, the building collapsed like a mowed giant.
Secret of the Krasnoyarsk radar
According to the assurances of former builders and employees of the Yeniseisk-15 hub, this station had such a radiation power that energy could damage the electronics of the ballistic missile navigation system. Is it so, now do not find out. For the sake of the former potential adversary, and in the beginning of the 90s to the strategic partner - the USA, the practically finished Daryal radar was dismantled. The formal reason was that the station’s location contradicts the provisions of the ABM agreement.
The destruction of the city-forming enterprise turned into a humanitarian disaster for the village of Yeniseysk-15. More than a thousand people were left without work and livelihoods, literally abandoned by the state to their fate. Perhaps in the future, descendants will find the answer to the question of who was disturbed by the Krasnoyarsk Daryal radar. A photo of the remains of a grandiose building in the heart of the Siberian taiga will be a good indictment.
Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Ukraine
The station in the Irkutsk region was commissioned in 1992, but two years later the facility was mothballed. Since 1999, the site has been used by civilian departments to study the upper atmosphere. Six years ago, the structure was dismantled, freeing up the site for the construction of the next generation radar.
"Daryal" near the city of Balkhash in East Kazakhstan in 2002 was transferred to the authorities of a sovereign state. Two years later, as a result of a major fire, the building completely burned out, and subsequently the remains of structural elements and equipment were plundered. The building finally collapsed in 2010.
Objects on Cape Khersones, near Sevastopol and near Mukachev (Western Ukraine) were abandoned unfinished, and were dismantled in the 2000s.
Russian nuclear shield
The resulting gaps in Russia's missile defense should completely eliminate the next-generation SPRN based on the Voronezh type radar, of high factory readiness. Time and resource costs for the construction of these nodes have been significantly reduced, compared with the “Daryal”, which allowed the commissioning of seven such stations in the last decade.
Objects are integrated into the missile defense system (ABM), and their functions include not only target detection, but also tracking and target designation.
In addition, as a backup, in case of failure of the main stations, a mini-radar system has been created. This equipment easily disguises itself as a simple cargo container and can be located anywhere. The work of the complex is completely autonomous and automated.