Systems traditionally related to strategic defense - missile defense system, warning system missile attack, the outer space control system (they also include the decommissioned anti-space defense system) - are currently part of the Aerospace Forces as the following structural units - the anti-missile defense division (as part of the Air and Anti-Missile Defense Command), the Main the Missile Attack Warning Center and the Main Space Situation Intelligence Center (as part of the Space Command).

Missile attack warning system

space echelon

In November 2015, the Aerospace Forces launched the first satellite of a new generation missile attack warning system (Kosmos-2510). The second spacecraft of the system, Kosmos-2518, was launched into orbit in May 2017, the third, Kosmos-2541, in September 2019. According to the Aerospace Forces, in this composition, the system provides constant monitoring of areas of possible launches of ballistic missiles. At the same time, in in full force the system should include ten spacecraft, including those placed in geosynchronous orbit.

Information from satellites in real time should be transmitted to the eastern control point Serpukhov-15 (the village of Kurilovo, Kaluga region) and the western control point located in the Komsomolsk-on-Amur region.

Radar stations

As of 2019, the ground echelon of the missile attack warning system includes the following radio units (ORTU) and radar:

In addition, the Don-2N radar of the Moscow missile defense system and the Danube-3U radar near Chekhov are involved in solving the problems of warning about a missile attack and controlling outer space.

missile defense

Operation of the missile defense system A-135, deployed around Moscow, is provided by the missile defense division. The command and measurement post of the missile defense system, combined with the Don-2N radar, is located in the city of Sofrino, Moscow Region. The computing facilities of the system are being upgraded.

The missile defense system includes the Don-2N radar, a command and measurement station, and 68 53T6 (Gazelle) anti-missile missiles designed to intercept in the atmosphere. 32 51T6 (Gorgon) missiles, designed to intercept outside the atmosphere, have been withdrawn from the system. Anti-missiles are located in silo launchers located in positional areas around Moscow. Short-range interception missiles are located in five positional areas - the Window in Nurek (Tajikistan), which makes it possible to detect objects at altitudes up to 40,000 km. The complex began its intended work at the end of 1999. The means of the complex allow processing data, determining the parameters of the movement of objects and transmitting them to the appropriate command posts.

The structure of the SKKP includes a separate radio engineering node Kron in st. Zelenchukskaya in the North Caucasus. As part of the node, specialized radar stations of the decimeter and centimeter ranges operate. A similar complex is being built in the Nakhodka area.

As part of the SKKP, other specialized means of controlling outer space also work. For example, the astronomical observatories of the Academy of Sciences participate in the detection and tracking of objects.

What is Russia's early warning system.

Russian early warning system - Russian system missile attack warnings. Its main task is to detect a missile attack at the time of launch and transmit data about the attack to the missile defense system. Using the information received from the early warning system about the scale and source of the attack, defense systems calculate options for response. The early warning system consists of ground-based radar stations with a detection range of 6,000 km and a group of orbiting satellites capable of detecting the launch of intercontinental missiles from anywhere in the world.

The development of early warning systems in Russia began in the middle of the twentieth century, at the height of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union. The surge of scientific developments in the field nuclear weapons led to the emergence of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and, as a result, the question arose of effective countermeasures in the field of air defense. In 1954, work began on the creation of a radar station early warning.

The first early warning radars were deployed at the end of the 60s along the perimeter of the border of the Soviet Union. Their task was to detect launched missiles and their warheads, as well as calculate the coordinates of the location of missiles in real time with maximum accuracy, determine the area of ​​impact and predict the expected extent of destruction. After successful tests, a unified missile attack warning system was created, combining individual radar stations, nodes, complexes and command and control posts located on the territory of the USSR.

Along with this, work was underway on a program to create a space component of early warning systems. In 1961, a project for a space surveillance system was submitted for consideration, and in 1972, after a series of tests and improvements, a satellite equipped with infrared and television-type detection devices was launched into orbit.

Thus, in 1972, the system consisted of ground-based over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars and early warning space satellites, whose task was to register ballistic missile launches. Infrared sensors placed on satellites were supposed to capture exhaust emissions rocket engine during the passage of the active part of the trajectory. Over-the-horizon radars located on the territory of the USSR could register a missile launch signal in the USA, receiving the reflection of this signal through the ionosphere. Over-the-horizon radars detected missile warheads during the passage of later sections of the ballistic trajectory.

The development of early warning systems took place until the beginning of the 90s. To the existing Dnestr-M, Dnepr and Danube radars, the Volga stations and the new Daryal radar (with a phased antenna array) were added. In the mid-1980s, the space satellites of the PRN system were upgraded as part of the deployment program spacecraft in geosynchronous orbits. The new satellites could recognize rocket launches against the background of clouds or the surface of the earth. As a result, the early warning sector covered the waters of the North and Norwegian Seas, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the North Atlantic, and also covered the territories of the United States and Europe.

After the collapse of the USSR, work on some projects was suspended, which led to delays in their implementation. Despite this, the SPRN, inherited by Russia from the Soviet Union, did not suffer any special losses and did not lose its defensive power. At the beginning of 2012, the SPNR of Russia included 9 separate radio engineering nodes (5 of them are located on the territory of Russia) and 4 spacecraft placed in highly elliptical orbits. The development of missile defense systems of the Russian Federation, after the collapse of the USSR, stopped a little due to the active intervention of the United States and NATO. In addition, control was lost over a number of radar stations on the territory former countries Soviet Union. Work on the restoration and development of new radar stations was suspended, but then the signed treaty on limiting missile defense systems in 1972 was violated by the United States (in 2001) and this finally marked the position of the States. If before that there was no need for the development of early warning systems, even more - this would to some extent contradict the terms of the agreement and the introduction of the radar station on combat duty could be interpreted ambiguously, then in the conditions of US activity, the restoration of all radar stations and the creation of new ones is a justified step.

On duty / Photo: grareporter.livejournal.com

The grouping of spacecraft (SCA) of the missile attack warning system (SPRN) allows you to determine the class of the launched missile and evaluate the direction of its flight, Colonel Viktor Timoshenko, the chief of staff of the Main Missile Attack Warning Center of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of Russia, said on Saturday.

“She fixes the “torch” itself and evaluates the energy and a decision is made that this is a ballistic missile”

The early warning system has two echelons: space and ground - satellites and radar.

"The created constellation of spacecraft makes it possible to guarantee (detection - ed.) the launch of ballistic missiles. It captures the "torch" itself and evaluates the energy, and a decision is made that it is a ballistic missile. The capabilities of the first echelon make it possible to determine the direction of flight of a ballistic missile," - said V. Timoshenko in the program "General Staff" on the radio station "RSN".

However, he did not rule out the emergence of ambiguous situations with technology, for which people take an indispensable part in the process, RIA Novosti reported.

"The frequency of false alarms is decreasing over the years. These moments are all possible - this is a technique, such moments cannot be excluded. For this, there is a combat crew - it evaluates and makes a decision," V. Timoshenko noted.

reference Information

Missile attack warning system (SPRN)- a special complex system for detecting the launch of ballistic missiles, calculating their trajectory and transmitting information to the anti-missile defense command center, on the basis of which the fact of an attack on a state with the use of missile weapons is recorded and an operational decision is made on response actions. It consists of two echelons - ground-based radars and an orbital constellation of satellites.

History of creation

The development and adoption of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the 1950s led to the need to create means of detecting their launch in order to exclude the possibility of a surprise attack.

The Soviet Union began building a missile warning system in the mid-1950s. The first early warning radars were deployed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their main task was to provide information about a missile attack for missile defense systems, and not to ensure the possibility of a retaliatory strike. Over-the-horizon radars fixed missiles after they appeared from behind the local horizon, over-the-horizon "looked" over the horizon using radio wave reflections from the ionosphere. But the maximum achievable power of such stations and the imperfection technical means processing the information received limited the detection range to two to three thousand kilometers, which corresponded to an alert time of 10-15 minutes before approaching the territory of the USSR.

In the 1960s, early warning radars of the AN / FPS-49 type (developed by D. K. Barton) of the American Beamus missile attack warning system were installed in Alaska, Greenland and Great Britain. They were replaced with new ones only after 40 years of service.

On January 18, 1972, the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued on the creation of an integrated missile attack warning system that combines ground-based radar stations and space assets. She was supposed to ensure the implementation of a retaliatory strike. To achieve the maximum warning time, it was supposed to use special satellites and over-the-horizon radars, which make it possible to detect ICBMs in the active phase of the flight. The detection of missile warheads in the late sections of the ballistic trajectory was provided for with the help of over-the-horizon radars. This separation significantly increases the reliability of the system and reduces the likelihood of errors, since different physical principles are used to detect a missile attack: registration of infrared radiation from a running engine of a starting ICBM by satellite sensors and registration of a reflected radio signal using radar.

Missile attack warning system in the USSR

missile warning radar

Work on the creation of an early warning radar (RLS) began after the adoption in 1954 of the decision of the Government of the USSR on the development of an anti-missile defense system in Moscow. Its most important elements were to be stations for launch detection and high-precision determination of the trajectories of enemy missiles at a distance of several thousand kilometers. In 1956, by the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On missile defense", A.L. Mints was appointed one of the chief designers of the DO radar, and in the same year, in Sary-Shagan (Kazakh SSR), studies began on the reflective parameters of BR warheads launched by from the Kapustin Yar training ground (Astrakhan region).

The construction of the first early warning radars was carried out in 1965-1969. These were two radars of the Dnestr-M type, located at the ORTU in Olenegorsk (Kola Peninsula) and Skrunda (Latvian SSR).

Conceptual diagram of the Dniester and Dnepr radars / Image: ru.wikipedia.org

On August 25, 1970, the system was put into service. It was designed to detect ballistic missiles launched from US territory or from the Norwegian and North Seas. The main task of the system for this stage was the provision of information about a missile attack for a missile defense system deployed around Moscow.

At the same time, part of the SKKP stations at the Mishelevka ORTU (Irkutsk region) and Balkhash-9 (Kazakh SSR) were modernized, and the Main Missile Attack Warning Center (MC PRN) was created in the Solnechnogorsk region (Moscow region). Special communication lines were laid between ORTU and HC PRN. On February 15, 1971, by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, a separate anti-missile surveillance division took up combat duty. This day is considered the beginning of the functioning of the Soviet early warning system.

Adopted in 1972, the concept of a missile attack warning system provided for integration with existing and newly created missile defense systems. As part of this program, the Danube-3 (Kubinka) and Danube-3U (Chekhov) radars of the Moscow missile defense system were included in the warning system. V. G. Repin was appointed chief designer of the integrated early warning system.

The receiving part of the radar "Danube-3M". The picture was taken by the American KH7 reconnaissance satellite in 1967. / Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

In 1974, an improved Dnepr-type radar was put into operation at Balkhash. It improved the measurement accuracy in elevation and work at lower angles, increased the range and throughput. According to the Dnepr project, the radar station in Olenegorsk was then modernized, and stations were built in Mishelevka, Skrunda, Sevastopol and Mukachevo (Ukrainian SSR).

The first stage of the integrated system, which included ORTU in Olenegorsk, Skrunda, Balkhash and Mishelevka, took up combat duty on October 29, 1976. The second stage, which included nodes in Sevastopol and Mukachevo, took up combat duty on January 16, 1979. These stations provided a wider coverage area of ​​the warning system, expanding it to the North Atlantic, the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

In the early 1970s, new types of threats appeared - ballistic missiles with multiple and actively maneuvering warheads, as well as strategic cruise missiles that use passive (false targets, radar traps) and active (jamming) countermeasures. Their detection was also hampered by technologies for reducing radar visibility ("Stealth"). To meet the new requirements in 1971-1972, a Daryal-type radar project was developed. It was planned to build up to eight such stations along the perimeter of the USSR, gradually replacing obsolete ones with them.

One of the Daryal-type radars - Pechorskaya / Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

In 1978, a modernized two-position radar complex in Olenegorsk was put into service, created on the basis of the existing Dnepr radar and the new Daugava installation, a reduced receiving part of the Daryal project. Here, for the first time in the country, large-aperture AFARs were used.

In 1984, the first full-scale Daryal-type station near the city of Pechora (Komi Republic) was handed over to the state commission and put on combat duty, a year later - the second station near the city of Kutkashen (Azerbaijan SSR). Both radars were accepted with imperfections and were completed in the process of work until 1987.

With the collapse of the USSR, plans to commission other Daryal stations remained unfulfilled.

Space echelon early warning system

In accordance with the project of the missile attack warning system, in addition to over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars, it was supposed to include a space echelon. It made it possible to significantly expand its capabilities due to the ability to detect ballistic missiles almost immediately after launch.

The lead developer of the space echelon of the warning system was the Central Research Institute "Kometa", and the Design Bureau named after A.I. Lavochkin.

By 1979, a space system for early detection of ICBM launches from four spacecraft (SC) US-K (Oko system) was deployed in highly elliptical orbits. To receive, process information and control the system's spacecraft in Serpukhov-15 (70 km from Moscow), an early warning command post was built.

KA US-K (Oko System) / Image: ruspolitics.ru

After conducting flight design tests, the US-K first generation system was put into service in 1982. It was intended to monitor the continental missile-prone areas of the United States. To reduce the illumination by the background radiation of the Earth and reflections sunlight from the clouds, the satellites were observing not vertically down, but at an angle. To do this, the apogees of the highly elliptical orbit were located over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. An added advantage This configuration made it possible to observe the American ICBM base areas on both daily orbits, while maintaining direct radio communication with the command post near Moscow, or with the Far East. This configuration provided conditions for observation of approximately 6 hours per day for one satellite. To ensure round-the-clock surveillance, it was necessary to have at least four spacecraft in orbit at the same time. To ensure the reliability and reliability of observations, the constellation had to include nine satellites - this made it possible to have a reserve in case of premature failure of the satellites, as well as to observe simultaneously two or three spacecraft, which reduced the likelihood of a false signal from the illumination of the recording equipment by direct or reflected from clouds by sunlight. This configuration of 9 satellites was first created in 1987.

In addition, since 1984, one US-KS spacecraft (Oko-S system) has been placed in geostationary orbit. It was the same basic satellite, slightly modified to operate in geostationary orbit.

These satellites were placed at a position at 24° West longitude, providing observation of the central part of the United States at the edge of the visible disk of the Earth. Satellites in geostationary orbit have a significant advantage - they do not change their position relative to the Earth and can provide constant support to a constellation of satellites in highly elliptical orbits.

The increase in the number of missile-prone regions required detection of ballistic missile launches not only from the continental territory of the United States, but also from other regions of the globe. In this regard, the Central Research Institute "Kometa" began to develop a second-generation system for detecting ballistic missile launches from continents, seas and oceans, which was a logical continuation of the "Oko" system. Her distinctive feature, in addition to placing a satellite in geostationary orbit, was the use of vertical observation of the launch of rockets against the background of the earth's surface. This solution allows not only to register the fact of the launch of missiles, but also to determine the azimuth of their flight.

The deployment of the US-KMO ("Oko-1") system began in February 1991 with the launch of a second-generation spacecraft. In 1996, the US-KMO system with spacecraft in geostationary orbit was put into service.

Russian missile attack warning system

As of October 23, 2007, the SPRN orbital constellation consisted of three satellites - 1 US-KMO in geostationary orbit (Kosmos-2379 was launched into orbit on August 24, 2001) and 2 US-KS in a highly elliptical orbit (Kosmos-2422 was launched into orbit on July 21. 2006. Cosmos-2430 launched into orbit on 10/23/2007). On June 27, 2008 Kosmos-2440 was launched.

To ensure the solution of the tasks of detecting launches of ballistic missiles and bringing commands to the combat control of the strategic nuclear forces (Strategic nuclear forces), it was supposed to create a Unified space system(EKS).

As part of the state armaments development program, a planned deployment of high-factory readiness radar stations (VZG radar) of the Voronezh family is being carried out in order to form a closed missile attack warning radar field at a new technological level with significantly improved characteristics and capabilities. On currently new VZG radars were deployed in Lekhtusi (one meter), Armavir (two decimeter), Svetlogorsk (decimeter). Ahead of schedule construction in progress complex of a dual meter-range VZG radar in the Irkutsk region - the first segment of the southeast direction was put on experimental combat duty, the complex with the second antenna sheet for viewing the east direction is planned to be put on the OBD in 2013.

Radar type "Voronezh" / Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

Azerbaijan

Radar "Daryal" near the city of Gabala was operated until the end of 2012 on a leasehold basis. In 2013, the equipment was dismantled and taken to Russia, the buildings were transferred to Azerbaijan.

Belarus

The Volga radar is operated on the basis of the Russian-Belarusian agreement of January 6, 1995, according to which the Vileyka communication center and the radar, together with land plots transferred to Russia for 25 years for free use. It is under the jurisdiction of VVKO.

Kazakhstan

The construction of the Daryal radar station at the 90-95% readiness stage was frozen in 1992. In 2003, it was transferred to Kazakhstan. In 2010, during unauthorized dismantling, the building of the reception center collapsed.

Radar "Dnepr" is operated on a leasehold basis and is administered by VVKO.

Ukraine

From 1992 to 2007, a Russian-Ukrainian agreement was in force on the use of the Dnepr radar near Sevastopol and Mukachevo. The stations were serviced by Ukrainian personnel, and the information received was sent to the GC PRN (Solnechnogorsk). For this information, Russia annually transferred to Ukraine, according to various sources, from 0.8 to 1.5 million dollars.

In February 2005, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense demanded that Russia increase the payment, but was refused. Then, in September 2005, Ukraine began the process of transferring the radar to the NSAU, meaning the renewal of the agreement in connection with the change in the status of the radar.

In December 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced that the United States had sent a package of proposals for cooperation in the rocket and space sector. After the agreement was signed, American specialists were to gain access to the NSAU space infrastructure facilities, including two Dnepr radar stations in Sevastopol and Mukachevo. Since Russia in this case could not prevent the access of American specialists to the radar station, it had to rapidly deploy new Voronezh-DM radar stations near Armavir and Kaliningrad on its territory.

In March 2006, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Gritsenko announced that Ukraine would not lease missile attack warning stations in Mukachevo and Sevastopol to the United States.

In June 2006 CEO NSAU Yuriy Alekseev reported that Ukraine and Russia agreed to increase "one and a half times" the fee in 2006 for servicing in the interests of the Russian side of the radar station in Sevastopol and Mukachevo.

On February 26, 2009, radar stations in Sevastopol and Mukachevo stopped transmitting information to Russia and began to work exclusively in the interests of Ukraine.

The leadership of Ukraine decided to dismantle both stations

within the next 3-4 years. The military units serving the stations were disbanded.

In developing plans for war with the Soviet Union, American strategists were very concerned about how to protect US territory. The launch of the first Soviet artificial Earth satellite showed that the USSR is not inferior to the United States in creating powerful launch vehicles, and in the event of an attack on the Soviet Union, the aggressor will receive a retaliatory nuclear missile strike. Working hard on the creation of various anti-missile defense systems, American military specialists and scientists paid constant attention to the development of such reconnaissance means that would make it possible to detect enemy missile launches as early as possible. Separated from a potential enemy by boundless ocean expanses, the United States sought to maintain its habitual position of an "impregnable fortress", all the advantages of which they deeply felt during the First and especially the Second World Wars. The appearance of nuclear weapons in the USSR and the creation of long-range missiles in no way corresponded to the stereotypes of thinking of the overseas military, and they seriously thought about how to neutralize the possible actions of a potential enemy.

It was decided first of all to create effective system missile attack warnings. Already in the late 1950s, the construction of radar posts for the early warning system for ballistic missiles "Beamyus" began. To detect missiles and warheads of a potential enemy at the farthest possible frontiers, these posts were pushed as far as possible to the territory of the Soviet Union. In 1960, the installation of radar stations was completed ( radar) in Tula (Greenland), the following year, a radar station in Alaska was put into operation and in 1963, a station in England near Fylingdales.

All posts of the Beamyus system housed warhead detection and tracking stations. Their technical capabilities made it possible to detect targets moving towards the North American continent at a distance of up to 5000 kilometers. The processing of the information coming from the stations was carried out automatically during
10-15 seconds with the help of powerful electronic computers.

However, according to the Pentagon, this did not full guarantee timely detection of flying warheads, and even if successful, the error in determining the points of their fall was tens and hundreds of kilometers. This made it difficult to decide on the interception of warheads, and in Washington there were repeated demands for the creation of a missile attack warning system that would sound an alarm immediately at the time of the launch of Soviet missiles.

The further development of the missile attack warning system took place in two ways. Firstly, over-the-horizon radars were developed, which, unlike stations operating within line-of-sight, used a radio beam reflected from the ionosphere and propagating along the Earth-ionosphere channel. This made it possible to significantly increase the range of radar stations and receive a warning about missile launches
20-25 minutes before they reach the target. The first over-the-horizon radars "Teepee" and "Madre" were built in the 1960s.

The second direction in the improvement of the early warning system, which later became the main one, was the creation of special satellites with optical-electronic reconnaissance devices. Over-the-horizon radar stations, stations of the Beamuse system, reconnaissance satellites work in a complex, forming single system missile attack warnings. During 1960-1963, Atlas-Agena launch vehicles launched 9 Midas satellites into near-Earth orbits. They were equipped with infrared sensors designed to detect the emission of torches from the engines of launching rockets.

During the operation of these satellites, it turned out that in some positions of the spacecraft relative to the direction to the Sun, solar radiation reflected from the Earth distorted the whole picture and optoelectronic equipment sometimes gave false signals about the launch of Soviet missiles.

Harold Brown, Chief of Science and Technology at the US Department of Defense, admitted in July 1963 with deep regret that of the $423 million spent under the Midas program, at least half was wasted. The program has undergone a radical redesign, as a result of which new project missile attack early warning system code 461. It provided for the launch of new (temporary) satellites into relatively low earth orbits. They were supposed to install a new optoelectronic system based on the use of infrared detectors, more accurately tuned to the radiation parameters of rocket engine torches. A television camera with a telephoto lens, working in conjunction with these detectors, made it possible to increase the reliability of the information received.

Promising results were soon obtained in the creation of multi-element infrared photodetectors, which could record the radiation of torches at much greater distances. In the middle of 1966, work began on the creation of satellites of the 266 and 249 series, designed to be launched into orbits far from the Earth. The main bet was now placed on satellites, which should be launched into geostationary (synchronous) orbits with a height of about 36 thousand kilometers. In August 1968, the first satellite was launched into geostationary orbit. The choice of orbit parameters ensured best review northern regions of the USSR. In April of the following year, the second satellite of this type was launched into space in such a way that at least one apparatus was constantly located above the northern hemisphere.
In 1972 the satellite system "Imeus"(Integrated Multi-Purpose Early Warning Satellite) was deemed serviceable and placed at the disposal of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

In recent years, as a rule, three DSP (Defense Support Program) satellites launched into geostationary orbits from Cape Canaveral have been used for early detection of Soviet missile launches in the United States. One satellite is located over the Indian Ocean and registers launches of land-based strategic missiles. The second is over Pacific Ocean and the third one over South America. They must record the launches of ballistic missiles from submarines.

In June 1981, the US Department of Defense signed a contract with TRW for the manufacture of 4 second-generation DSP satellites, which should be distinguished by higher survivability in the event of enemy opposition. Their launch into orbit is carried out with the help of reusable space shuttles. Reserve (“sleeping”) satellites are also placed in orbits, which, at the necessary moment, upon a command from the Earth, will immediately “wake up” and start working.

The signals received by the sensors about the launch of enemy missiles are processed and transmitted to the headquarters of NORAD and the Air Force Space Command. According to the American press, in the 1980s the time from the moment the missiles were launched to the receipt of information at the NORAD headquarters was about three minutes. Further measures were taken to reduce this time.

The Pentagon rated the reliability of the missile attack early warning system quite highly: “We have developed satellites that can detect ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles almost from the moment they are launched, and also monitor them.” However, his optimism was not supported by the statements of other military experts, who pointed out the high vulnerability of the Imeyus satellites as the main drawback. In their opinion, it would be necessary to provide for the launch of false targets from them at a threatening moment, as well as the possibility of their maneuvering in order to evade enemy weapons in time, as a protection for these satellites.

A few words about the NORAD command receiving information from early warning satellites. It is housed in underground galleries in Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The underground complex is serviced by three shifts of engineers, operators, communications specialists. Each shift includes 250 people. Another 650 specialists are employed in auxiliary work. The underground city is carefully guarded. All personnel are double checked at special checkpoints before entering the tunnel and at the entrance to the command post premises.

All this is designed to prevent the possibility of sabotage, which the NORAD command is very afraid of. Based on the concept of a "protracted" nuclear war, an increased autonomy of the underground complex was provided. Monthly supplies of water and food have been created, a block of six powerful diesel generators has been reserved to supply equipment and life support systems with electricity. To protect personnel and equipment from the action of seismic shock waves of a nuclear explosion, all rooms of the command post are equipped with spring shock absorbers.

The NORAD command receives information about the launch of missiles of a potential enemy not only from satellites. NORAD headquarters receives information from Pavepoz radars designed to detect submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), from radars on the island of Shemiya, tracking objects in outer space, radars of the Beamuse early warning system and a number of other sources.

At the NORAD headquarters, the received data is quickly analyzed and, if necessary, transferred to the command post of the Strategic Command and to the national command post in Fort Richie (Maryland).

Immediately upon receiving a signal from satellites about a possible missile attack, the US armed forces are gradually transferred to an increased degree of combat readiness. Distrust of the Soviet Union and suspicion during the years of the Cold War were so great that the first stage (according to American terminology, “cocked the trigger”) began with a signal from early warning satellites, even in the event of a test launch by a potential adversary, which was advance notice. If there is no signal to cancel the alarm, then the process of transferring the strategic forces to increased combat readiness automatically continues. Simultaneously global military system command and control transmits alarm signals to the US Department of Defense, to command posts (about 100) located in various regions of the globe, and to the White House operations center. There, in the so-called situational room, incoming information is analyzed and the main question is discussed - whether the moment has come when it is necessary to inform the president in order for him to make a decision on the use of strategic nuclear forces.

15th Army of the Aerospace Forces ( special purpose) includes the Main Center for Missile Attack Warning, the Main Center for Space Situation Intelligence, the Main Test Space Center named after G.S. Titov. Let us consider the tasks and technical capabilities of the ground component of these forces.

GC PRN with the main command post in Solnechnogorsk organizationally consists of separate radio engineering units (ortu). There are 17 such units. The PRN ground echelon is armed with the Dnepr, Daugava, Daryal, Volga, Voronezh radars and their modifications.

Since 2005, the Ortu network with Voronezh radars has been created. Currently, 571 ortu are on combat or experimental combat duty in Lehtusi Leningrad region with radar "Voronezh-M", "Voronezh-DM" in the village of Pionersky, Kaliningrad region, Barnaul ( Altai region) and Yeniseisk (Krasnoyarsk Territory). In Armavir ( Krasnodar region) there are two sections of the Voronezh-DM system (818 ortu), the viewing sector is 240 degrees, and in Usolye-Sibirsky, Irkutsk Region, there are two sections of the Voronezh-M.

Voronezh-M is under construction in Orsk ( Orenburg region), "Voronezh-DM" in Vorkuta (Komi Republic) and Zeya (Amur Region). In Olenegorsk, Murmansk region, there will be Voronezh-VP. All of these radars should be handed over in 2018, after which there will be a continuous PRN radar field over Russia. It should be noted that the Soviet Union did not implement a similar task.

Radar "Voronezh-DM" operates in the decimeter range of radio waves, "Voronezh-M" - in the meter. The target detection range is up to six thousand kilometers. Voronezh-VP is a high-potential radar operating in the meter range.

In addition to the Voronezh, Soviet-era radars are in service. In Olenegorsk (57 ortu) there is a "Dnepr" as a transmitting part for reception by the "Daugava" system. In 2014, 808 ortu in Sevastopol also returned to the GC PRN with the Dnipro. It may be returned to serviceable condition in order to additionally create a radar field in the southwestern direction. Another "Dnepr" is available in Usolye-Sibirsky.

Outside Russian Federation The early warning system uses two radars. In Belarus, near Baranovichi - "Volga" decimeter range, near Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan - another "Dnepr".

The last of the monsters of the Soviet era "Daryal" - in Pechora. It is the world's most powerful VHF radar. It is planned to be modernized, as well as other Soviet-built radars, before the planned replacement with the VZG radar.

In 2013, the deployment of over-the-horizon detection radars (OZGO) of air targets of the Container system began. The first object with such a radar was 590 ortu in Kovylkino (Mordovia). The creation of the node will be fully completed this year. Currently, this radar operates in the Western strategic direction, it is planned to expand its capabilities to the South. The ZGO radar of the Container system is being created to work in the Eastern direction in Zeya in the Amur Region. Completion is scheduled for 2017. In the future, a ring capable of detecting air targets at a distance of up to three thousand kilometers will be formed from such radars. The over-the-horizon detection unit "Container" is designed to monitor the air situation, reveal the nature of the activity of aviation assets in the area of ​​responsibility in the interests of information support military authorities, as well as detection of cruise missile launches.

The GC RKO with the Central Command Post in Noginsk provides planning, collection and processing of information from existing and prospective specialized means of the KKP. Among the main tasks is the maintenance of a single information base, otherwise called the Main Catalog of Space Objects. It contains information about 1500 characteristics of each space object (number, features, coordinates, etc.). Russia is able to see objects in space with a diameter of 20 centimeters. In total, there are approximately 12 thousand space objects in the catalog. The Krona radio-optical recognition complex for space objects, which is one of the main facilities of the GC RKO, is located in the village of Zelenchukskaya in the North Caucasus. This ortho works in the radio and optical bands. It is able to recognize the type of satellite and its affiliation at altitudes of 3,500-40,000 kilometers. The complex was put on duty in 2000 and includes centimeter and decimeter radars and a laser-optical locator. The Krona-N radio-optical complex, designed to detect low-orbit spacecraft, is being created near the city of Nakhodka in the Primorsky Territory (the 573rd separate radio engineering center).

In Tajikistan, near the city of Nurek, the 1109th separate optoelectronic unit is located, which operates the Okno complex. It was put on combat duty in 2004 and is designed to detect space objects in the field of view, determine the parameters of their movement, obtain photometric characteristics and issue information about all this. Last year, the modernization of the unit under the Okno-M project was completed. Now the complex allows you to detect, recognize space objects and calculate their orbits automatically at altitudes of 2-40,000 kilometers. Low-orbit flying targets will also not go unnoticed. The Okno-S complex is being built near the city of Spassk-Dalny in the Primorsky Territory. In the prospects for the development of the GC RKO, the creation of a radar center for monitoring outer space in Nakhodka (ROC "Nakhodka"), the development of the Krona complex, the creation of a network of mobile optical complexes for the review and search "Pritsel", a radar for detecting and controlling small space objects "Decoupling" based on Radar "Danube-3U" in Chekhov near Moscow. For the network of monitoring complexes for radio-emitting spacecraft Pathfinder, objects are being created in the Moscow and Kaliningrad regions, Altai and Primorsky territories. It is planned to put into operation a complex of computing facilities of the fourth generation to replace the Elbrus-2 computer. As a result, by 2018 the GC RCS will be able to observe objects smaller than 10 centimeters in size.

The main test space center with a command post in Krasnoznamensk solves the problems of ensuring the control of orbital groups of spacecraft for military, dual, socio-economic and scientific purposes, including the GLONASS system.

About 900 satellite control sessions are carried out daily by the duty forces of the GICC. The center controls about 80 percent of domestic military, dual, socio-economic and scientific spacecraft. An application consumer center was created to supply consumers of the Russian Ministry of Defense with navigation-time, and, if necessary, precision information from the GLONASS navigation system. In 2014, the center for deep space communications in Evpatoria was returned to the Space Forces. The most powerful and equipped are 40 OKIKs in Evpatoria and 15 OKIKs in Galenki (Primorsky Krai). In Evpatoria there is a radio telescope RT-70 with a mirror diameter of 70 meters and an antenna area of ​​2500 square meters. It is one of the largest fully movable radio telescopes in the world.

This OKIK is armed with the Pluton space radio-technical complex, equipped with three unique antennas (two receiving and one transmitting). They have an effective surface of about 1000 square meters. The radio signal power emitted by the transmitter reaches 120 kilowatts, which allows radio communication at a distance of up to 300 million kilometers. From Ukraine, this OKIK got in extremely bad technical condition, but it will be equipped with new command-measuring control systems and complexes for controlling outer space.

There is also a RT-70 radio telescope in Galenki.

OKIK GICC (total 14 nodes) are located throughout the country, in particular in Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Region, Vorkuta, Yeniseisk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Ulan-Uda, Kamchatka. The work and composition of OKIK equipment can be assessed using the example of the Barnaul node . With his radio equipment and a laser telescope, he conducts up to 110 spacecraft control sessions per day. Information is received from here to control the launch of spacecraft launched from Baikonur into orbit, voice and television communication is provided with the crews of manned spaceships and ISS. Currently, a second laser telescope with a diameter of 312 centimeters and a mass of 85 tons is being built here. It is planned that it will be the largest in Eurasia and at a distance of 400 kilometers will be able to distinguish design features parts of spacecraft measuring eight centimeters.

In the interests of the GICC, the ship of the measuring complex of project 1914 "Marshal Krylov" - the last representative of the KIK ships - can be used.