What is the Chernobyl “Arc”? What is the principle of its work? We will consider these and other questions in the article. The metropolis of Chernobyl-2 is located to the north-west of the small Polesie city of Chernobyl, but it is not on any topographic map. By analyzing the maps, you can find dotted lines of forest paths or designations of boarding houses for kids at the location of the city, but not designations of technical or urban buildings. In the USSR they knew how to hide a secret, especially if it was military.
ZGRLS
Where was the Chernobyl “Arc”? Only with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the collapse of the USSR did people learn about the presence of a military garrison (small town) in the Polesie forests, which were hunted by “space intelligence”. In the last century in the seventies, the military created unique radar systems with which it was possible to observe the launches of intercontinental missiles from the lands of a potential enemy. The invented radar was named radar overseas station (ZGRLS).
The Chernobyl “Arc” had colossal dimensions of receiving antennas and masts, it required a huge human reserve - about 1,000 soldiers carried combat duty at this facility. A small town was created for the military and their families, with a single street called Kurchatov Street.
The decision to manufacture the Duga No. 1 radar system beyond the horizon (near the city of Chernobyl) was made on the basis of decisions of the authorities of 1972, January 18, and 1975, April 14.
Already in 1976, the most important radar unit ZGRLS Chernobyl-2 was mounted. The leading designer of the ZGRLS in Chernobyl-2 was the Research Institute of Long-Range Radio Communications (NIIDAR). Kuzminsky Franz was the main inspirer of the idea and designer of ZGRLS.
Test
The State Commission made the first tests of the Chernobyl “Arc” in 1979. Experts noted that when the tests were being prepared, a number of technical problems had to be solved that arose due to the introduction of an absolutely unique, new, unique tool in world experience.
During the tests, the launches of launch vehicles and ballistic shells from the eastern US missile pad were discovered, and the adequacy of the modules was examined based on the results of identifying associated launches of intercontinental American missiles.
At the same time, design flaws were identified, which included a lack of high-quality identification of single targets and small categories of tasks. The sound activity of ZGRLS was achieved only for situations of powerful strikes of intercontinental missiles of a possible enemy.
According to the resolution of the authorities of 1982, on May 30, despite a certain functional localization, in 1982 the Chernobyl ZGRLS was accepted for pilot development.
On this occasion, the creators of the complex were awarded the power - Danilov B. M., Vasenev V. N., Krokunov Yu. M., Dubrovsky N. F. and others.
Problems
The Chernobyl “Arc” is an amazing object. Together with her, two more similar complexes were built in the cities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Nikolaev. With the start of operation of the plants, additional problems appeared. It turned out that some of the operating frequencies of the radar devices were combined with the devices of the fishing fleet and civil aviation of the European powers. The USSR received a formal appeal from Western countries that installations affect the safety of the air fleet and shipping company.
The USSR compromised and ceased the use of operating frequencies. The engineers were assigned the task of eliminating the shortcomings of the radar. The designers and scientists decided it, and in 1985, after the update, the device began to pass the State Inspection.
Evacuation
Many people ask: Chernobyl "Arc" - what kind of structure is this? After an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, the ZGRLS was removed from the combat duty, and the equipment was mothballed. Civilians and military residents were evacuated from the area contaminated with radiation.
When the military and the leadership of the USSR realized the scale of the environmental disaster, it was decided (in 1987) to export valuable equipment and systems to the metropolis of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
So, the rare object providing the space shield of the Soviet country ceased to function, and the metropolis and its infrastructure were forgotten and abandoned.
The fate of the stations
Chernobyl "Arc" - what is it really? “Duga” (5N32) is a Soviet-era radar station over the horizon for the design of early detection of ballistic intercontinental missile launches, as mentioned above. There are at least three such stations:
- The experimental complex "Duga-N" near Nikolaev 47 ° 02'28 ”s. w. 32 ° 11'57 ”in. D. HG nuclear weapons, developed by the chief designer F. A. Kuzminsky. It was dismantled in 2000.
- In the Chernobyl zone “Arc No. 1” (Chernobyl-2 project) 51 ° 18'19 ”s. w. 30 ° 03 ”57” in. d. HG NF and 51 ° 38 ”15” s. w. 30 ° 42'10 ”c. D. HG NF. After modernization, state tests did not pass (1985-1986). In 1986, on April 26, it was stopped due to the Chernobyl accident. Part of the equipment was transported to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as mentioned above.
- In the village of Bolshaya Kartel, near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 50 ° 53'34 ”s. w. 136 ° 50'12 ”c. d. HG NF and 50 ° 23'07 ”s. w. 137 ° 19'41 ”in. D. HG NF - was intended only for receiving signals. The transmitting base was located near the closed city Lian-2. Taken from the military watch in 1989, November 14, in connection with the changing world situation. To date, disassembled.
Development
In the photo, the Chernobyl "Arc" looks breathtaking. It was a completely secret facility until the 1980s, tracking high-flying objects at a distance of 900 to 3,000 km in the circumpolar region. With the help of ultramodern and powerful radars for that period, the military managed, literally, to look beyond the horizon.
Due to such qualities, this complex was named "Arc-1". It was created by such designers and developers: Shtyren Efim, Kuzminsky Franz, Shustov Efir, V. Shamshin, V. Vasyukov.
Structure
Agree, it’s quite interesting to study the description of the Chernobyl “Arc”. Its radar operated in the frequency range of 5-28 MHz.
It is difficult to talk about the exact geometric parameters of ZGRLS. Information from publicly available literature is illogical and possibly distorted. Antennas are made on the principle of a phased array antenna. Since one antenna could not overlap such an extensive frequency band, the entire volume is divided into two parts, and there are also two antenna arrays:
- The high-frequency antenna of the Chernobyl “Arc” was 250 m long and up to 100 m high. On maps, its length is 230 m.
- Low-frequency antenna: mast height from 135 to 150 m, length - from 300 to 500 m. On maps, its length is 460 m.
With these parameters, the structure is visible from almost anywhere in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Nearby was the station of the Krug ionosphere oblique-return study, which was auxiliary for the ZGRLS, as well as for generating current data on the propagation of radio waves, the state of the medium of their movement, and choosing the optimal frequency scale.
The Chernobyl radar “Duga” was intended only for receiving signals. The transmission center was located near the village of Rassudovo, 60 km from Chernobyl-2 near the city of Lubech (Chernihiv region). Transmitting antennas are also made on the principle of a phased array antenna and had smaller dimensions: their height was 85 m. Wh / h, according to E. Shevchenko, was eliminated in 1988.
The complete closure of the infrastructure of the metropolis of Chernobyl-2 was not immediately carried out: work was suspended until 1987. But it soon became clear that in the conditions of the alienation of the zone it was impossible to exploit. Base nodes ZGRLS were disassembled and taken out.
Interesting Facts
The height of the Chernobyl “Arc” amazes everyone. In 2015, the film The Russian Woodpecker was shot about this object, which received a grand jury award for the best foreign documentary at the Sundance Festival.
For a typical sound on the air (a knock made during operation), “Doug” was called Russian Woodpecker (“Russian Woodpecker”).
"Russian woodpecker"
So, you already know that the height of the Chernobyl “Arc” was colossal. For the first time, electromagnetic broadcasts from this object began in 1976, on July 4. They all over the planet disrupted radio communications in the range from 3 to 30 MHz. Impulses spread with an interval of one tenth of a second. The signal was recorded not only by special equipment: it was heard in simple transistors, like a vibrating knock.
In many countries around the world, “Russian Woodpecker” rained thousands of complaints from ordinary hams and companies. Since the “Duga” was knocking at frequencies that were protected by international agreements for civilian consumption, the authorities of the USA, Canada and Great Britain protested to the USSR. But the Soviet Union did not even recognize that the "Woodpecker" existed.
The world radio amateur association even tried to crush the Russian Woodpecker by trying to broadcast rectangular bursts in antiphase at the same frequency to become an obstacle to the USSR woodpecker. Nevertheless, this attempt was unsuccessful.
On the appointment of the "Russian Woodpecker" people began to make different assumptions. So, even senior officials considered the theory of mind control. One US Department of Defense expert said that the Russian Woodpecker signal is the most powerful source of electromagnetic radiation humans have ever created. He claimed that this source is psychoactive, as it has 40 million watts and 10 pulses per second. He admired the fact that this energy was emitted from the USSR and penetrated everything in the USA. The US Federal Communications Commission conducted an inquiry in 1988, and eventually found out the actual purpose of the Arc.
The study
Other possible effects of the work of the Russian Woodpecker, from weather changes to the disastrous impact on the consciousness of the masses, were actively studied by Western intelligence agencies, seriously analyzing the Arc, as a test weapon of the USSR. Such hypotheses were fully justified, since for many years various effects of high-power magnetoelectric radiation have been analyzed.
For example, at the beginning of the century, the scientist Tesla conducted experiments on the wireless transmission of electricity, because of which the power supply was disrupted and hundreds of forest fires occurred due to thunderstorms. In the magazine "Specula" published survey data, which revealed that the magnetoelectric signals of certain frequencies can be transmitted through the earth's thickness.
Penetrating into its surface at an angle of 30 degrees, they form standing waves deep in the earth, which add up to the waves emitted by the red-hot core of the planet. Because of this, atmospheric storms and earthquakes can occur.
According to reports, the Norwegians installed a powerful radio station whose magnetoelectric radiation could generate nonlinear phenomena in the ionosphere that interfere with the normal operation of the Arc nodes.
Another direction of research was the transmission of signals by the object that affect the human psyche.
Nuances
The construction of the station near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was explained by its impressive energy intensity. Information from "Chernobyl-2" was constantly transmitted to the command station, although the object never stayed on combat duty, the watchmen stood up and worked around the clock. Including research experts.
On the site in the early 1990s there was a fire, because of which the base stopped its work as part of the SPRN.
The first results of the tests of the Chernobyl station in the direction of the latitudinal northern routes were unsuccessful. Due to the presence of polar caps, impressive ionospheric disturbances and other adverse conditions in the polar and circumpolar regions, the probability of detecting missile launches was very small. In this regard, the Lubech-1 unit was returned to remake. It carried out the so-called lapping "polar" program. The developers claimed that the results of the finishing work were positive.
By the way, the computing association had the code 1S31G. The K-340A computer for signal processing was performed on discrete elements. The transmitting equipment was assembled at the Machine-Building Plant in Dnepropetrovsk and consisted of 26 radio stations, the size of each of which was from a two-story house.
Film
We have already said above that the dock was shot about the Chernobyl “Arc”. film. The sensational film "Russian Woodpecker" is dedicated to an alternative investigation of the Chernobyl accident, which occurred in 1986, on April 26. Her director is an American Chad Gracia. The main character of the picture, the artist Fyodor Aleksandrovich, analyzing the Soviet totalitarian system, proves that this accident was not accidental.
There is a lot of useful information in the film - for example, one of the interviewees claims that anyone from the staff could arrange an accident at the Chernobyl NPP in dozens of different ways.