In the north-west of the Moscow region, several tens of kilometers from the city, there is an unusual object - a multifunctional radar station "Don-2N". In shape, it is a truncated pyramid with four faces. The width of the base of the structure is 130, and the height is 35 meters. The facility aims to control outer space over the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. It also performs the function of detecting and destroying ballistic missiles. Today we will become more familiar with the characteristics and capabilities of the Don-2N radar.
Summary
As you already understood, the station has four faces. On each of them you can see the characteristic round and square panels, thanks to which an informed person can guess the ownership of the building. Behind each of the four round-shaped panels are active phased antenna arrays, the diameter of which is 18 meters. Behind the square panels are the antennas that control the anti-ballistic missiles. They also represent a square whose side is approximately 10 meters.
In fact, this radar station (radar) is the central link of missile defense (ABM) in Moscow. It can not only detect potentially dangerous objects at an altitude of up to forty thousand kilometers, but also provide anti-missile guidance on them. Due to the fact that the radar is equipped with four antenna arrays at once, it allows you to cover the entire surrounding space and obtain the most accurate data about the detected targets.
All over the world there are no analogues of Don-2N radar. Where is the station located? This is a question that many are interested in. The missile defense center of the Russian capital is located in the village of Sofrino, Pushkin district. A prototype radar was built in Kazakhstan, at the Sary-Shagan training ground. According to NATO codification, the station was named Horse Leg.
Beginning of work
In 1963, the Moscow Radio Engineering Institute (RTI) under the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was tasked with creating a radar for detecting targets for a promising missile defense project. Thus began the history of the Don-2N radar. Initially, it was assumed that the future station will operate in the decimeter range. However, shortly after the start of the project, the designers realized that the characteristics of such a system would be too meager. A station operating in the decimeter range will not be able to provide high-precision target detection. In real conditions, this can lead to fatal consequences.
Already at the beginning of 1964, the Radio Engineering Institute began to develop a centimeter attachment. It was planned that this equipment will allow the station to obtain new, quite acceptable characteristics, as well as provide convenient and relatively simple operation. The prefix was supposed to operate as part of a system designed using the latest developments and technologies. But this time, the decision of the designers was considered unpromising.
It was necessary to create a completely new radar station, which would not only cover the then needs, but also significantly ahead of its time. In this regard, until the end of 1965, RTI employees were developing five different variants of a promising radar station at once. But this time, despite all the efforts of the engineers, the project was not approved, since it did not give practical solutions.
All five proposed options had individual flaws and were not recommended for further development. Thanks to the analysis of the work done and the technical solutions put forward, another design option of the promising radar station has appeared. A little later, it was he who became the main one for the Don-2N radar.
New solutions
In early 1966, engineers at RTI began work on a project called Don. Within its framework, it was planned to build a pair of radars operating in different ranges. The decimeter system was planned to be issued in the form of two options: ground and ship. This would allow not only to observe outer space from its territory, but also to track the positional areas of enemy missiles with the help of ships located on its shores and equipped with radars.
A centimeter radar was assumed only in a stationary ground version. In the range of its tasks, in addition to detecting enemy missiles, it also included guidance of missiles to intercept. In the first versions of the project, it was assumed that the centimeter station would track a sector 90 degrees wide. Therefore, in order to provide all-round visibility, it was necessary to build four such stations.
At the time of completion of the draft version of the centimeter station project, work on the decimeter range system was stopped, since it was no longer necessary. Engineers were able to combine all the necessary solutions in one large-scale ground station and ensure that all requirements are met. Since 1968, engineers have developed equipment that operates purely in the centimeter range. Meter waves were chosen for missile attack early warning stations.
Advance project
In 1969, RTI received the task of developing an advance project of the Don-N station. It was necessary to combine all the achievements gained from experience working on past programs of radar stations. At the same time, the customer, represented by the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, put forward quite a few requirements for the RTI project. The problem was that the characteristics of the altitude and range of the targets followed in the task were too large for the electronics of that time. At the end of the seventies of the last century, even the most innovative equipment could not track with a high degree of accuracy, and also track ballistic targets located at a distance of more than two thousand kilometers.
To complete the task it was necessary to conduct a series of basic research, and then tests. Then there was a proposal to make the missile defense system simpler, dividing it into two echelons, each of which will receive its own type of missile. In this case, the construction of one radar with a guidance system for two types of missiles was quite acceptable and economically feasible. To determine the final look and layout of the future radar station, the designers took some more time. Only in the middle of 1972 a full-fledged project was launched.
In order for the radar to meet all the required characteristics, it was proposed to equip it with a new generation computing complex, the development of which began simultaneously with the full design of the Don-N system. Soon, the multifunctional centimeter-wave circular radar station found the main number of features that have survived to date. In particular, RTI employees finally decided on the construction of the building: a truncated tetrahedral pyramid with phased antenna arrays on each of the faces and separate square-shaped antennas for missile defense. Thanks to the correct calculation of the location of the antennas, a full overview of the upper hemisphere was provided. The field of view of a radio station could be limited only by the characteristics of the propagation of the radar signal and the terrain.
Adjustments
Soon, the project was finalized and received some adjustments. The innovations concerned mainly signal processing equipment. Especially for operation as part of Don-N, a supercomputer called Elbrus-2 was developed and created. Even taking into account the fact that the computer complex of the station was equipped with the most advanced electronics at that time, the equipment occupied a little more than a thousand cabinets. So that such a quantity of equipment could be completely cooled, the engineers provided for a special system consisting of heat exchangers and water pipes. The total length of the pipes amounted to several hundred kilometers. For all parts of the radar equipment to be interconnected, it took about twenty thousand kilometers of cables.
Construction
By 1978, the project, which by that time received the updated name Don-2N, was ready for the construction stage of the station. Around the same time, a similar complex was erected at the Sary-Shagan Kazakh training ground. It differed from the Moscow Region in dimensions, equipment and, as a result, functionality.
The construction of the Don-2N early warning radar took about ten years. During this time, builders installed more than 30 thousand tons of metal structures, poured more than 50 thousand tons of concrete and laid a huge number of pipes, cables and other elements. Installation of electronic equipment started in 1980 and lasted for seven years.
Exploitation
A quarter of a century after the start of development, the Don-2N radar station was launched. In 1989, she began monitoring space objects. According to official data, the detection height of a target near Moscow radar is up to forty thousand kilometers. The detection range of the intercontinental missile warhead is 3,700 kilometers. The station’s radio transmitters emit a pulse power of up to 250 MW. Phased antenna arrays together with a computer complex determine the angular coordinates of the target with an accuracy of 25 arc seconds. The error in determining the range is not more than 10 meters. According to various sources, the Don-2N radar station in the Moscow Region is capable of tracking about a hundred objects at the same time and directing several dozen anti-missile systems at them. One shift of station operators includes about a hundred specialists.
In the mines of the station installed anti-missile model 53 T6. The power of their nuclear warhead is 10 kilotons. The length of such a rocket is 12 kilograms, and the mass is 10 tons. The range of damage (according to various sources) is from 50 to 100 kilometers, and the height of the defeat is 45 kilometers. The speed of the rocket is 5.5 km / s, which is obviously why in the West it is called the Gesell.
Collaboration with America
At first, or rather, until 1992, the existence and characteristics of the station were not particularly disclosed. But in the indicated year, the USSR agreed with America on cooperation in the field of research into the possibilities of detecting and tracking objects located in the Earth’s orbit. The program was named Orbital DEbris RAdar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS), which translates as "Orbital Balls for Calibrating Radar Systems Tracking Space Debris."
The first experiment should have passed in the winter of 1992, but due to technical difficulties it did not take place. Only two years later, the study was conducted. In an experiment called ODERACS-1R, the American Discovery shuttle threw six metal balls into outer space. Two of them had a diameter of 5 cm, two - 10 cm, and two more - 15 cm. For several months they were in orbit of the Earth. All this time they were watched by Don-2N radars and American radars. During the study, balls with a diameter of 10 and 15 centimeters were noticed by both American and Russian researchers. But balls with a diameter of five centimeters were detected only by the Russian radar.
In the next ODERACS-2 study, 3 balls and 3 dipole reflectors were thrown into space. According to the results of the experiment, the Russian radar again proved to be the best. Her radar found the smallest targets at a distance of up to two thousand kilometers.
Station Features
Notable features of the Don-2N radar (Sofrino) are:
- Multifunctionality. It provides near and distant interception of ballistic targets, their tracking, as well as coded exchange of information.
- High degree of noise immunity. It is based on a narrow antenna pattern, a high selectivity frequency, a wide frequency range, the presence of automatic interference cancellers, the use of special probing signals and the ability to vary the sensitivity of a signal directed to interference sources.
- Adaptation to changes in the tactical situation. This is achieved due to the ability to change the modes, pace and service lines of the elements of goals.
- High accuracy of target path measurements, individual measurements of target coordinates in five channels.
- The ability to identify and track fast-flying and subtle targets.
- High level of informational content of signals.
- Modular design.
- High degree of automation.
Danger zone from radar "Don-2N"
When the radar station is operating, staying near it is strictly prohibited. The health hazard from the Don-2N radar is associated with strong radiation. Speaking in everyday language, Don-2N can be compared to a huge microwave. Only now, heating does not occur inside, but where the emitter enters - outside. In this case, it is completely safe to be inside. For those who, for whatever reason, were outside, special protective flaps were built.
Ten minutes before turning on the station, a signal sounds that indicates that employees need to leave the surrounding area. The sanitary protection zone for the Don-2N radar is one kilometer. However, there are no settlements at such a distance from the station. A special tunnel is equipped under the ground, through which you can leave a working station without leaving the danger zone.
Potential
The main amount of information about the abilities and features of the service of the Don-2N station remains classified. Therefore, information about the complex, as a rule, is scarce and fragmentary. Nevertheless, even based on the information available, conclusions can be drawn. The ability to track hundreds of targets at the same time indicates the ability of the radar to identify a limited nuclear strike on a protected area.
Having found targets, the station itself can direct missiles at them. According to various sources, their number ranges from 25 to 30. Thus, due to the lack of a sufficient number of missiles, the radar’s protective potential cannot be used to the full. But this is only an assumption based on available data. And the exact information about Moscow's missile defense was and remains classified.