A recent
article in the December 2017 edition of
the United States Army's Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) provides us
with an interesting look at Russia's recent advances in the field of defending
Mother Russia from hypersonic weapons, the latest version of weapons that can
deliver a conventional warhead anywhere on earth in as little as one hour.
The information in the article is, in part, taken from a Russian
language September 5,
2017 article in Russia's
Svobodnaya Pressa written by Vladimir Tuchkov.
According to the English language
translation of the Svobodnaya Pressa article, the completion of the Global
Missile Attack Warning System (SPRN) continuous radar field, known as Konteyner
(container radar) or 29B6, should will take place in 2018. The system
became operational in 2013 and was developed by PKP NIIDAR for a price of 10
billion rubles ($176 million US at current exchange rates). For the first
time in Russia history, the nation will be protected by a continuous radar
field with the ability to "see" over-the-horizon to a radial distance
of 3000 kilometres (at 50
sweeps per second), a coverage area of 60 degrees and an altitude of 100
kilometres (i.e. it is not capable of seeing into outer space). In the
case of traditional radar, the use of ultra-short wavelengths (i.e. microwaves)
prevent the system from seeing beyond the horizon. Long-wave radars have the capability to see beyond the horizon but are impractical because they use a huge array of
antennas and consume very large amounts of power. The ability to see
over-the-horizon is created by the reflection of shortwave radio bands from the
ionosphere which travel back towards the surface of the earth as shown on this
diagram from RF Wireless
World:
If the wave hits an object, it
returns to the receiving antenna along the same route and continues to track
the trajectory of the object. The radar is capable of seeing unmanned
aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles, however, it is most effective at
determining the location of fast-moving objects like cruise missiles and
aircraft. Russia's Aerospace Troops (VKS) estimates that, in order to
combat hypersonic weapons, the system must be able to detect and provide
targeting information to VKS interceptors at a range of no less than 1033
kilometres.
The system has a reception field
with 144, 35 metre-tall antenna masts in an area covering 1300 by 200 metres.
The transmitting antennas are located 300 kilometres from the receiving
array near Gorodets town, Nizhegorodskaya oblast. The first field was
placed in the Mordovian city of Kovylkino, located 550 kilometres southeast of
Moscow. The current system is capable of seeing all of the objects in
Western Europe's airspace including Poland, Germany and the Baltic as well as
Turkey, Syria and Israel.
When the Konteyner over-the-horizon
radar is combined with the Voronezh radar which is capable of looking into
outer space, Russia is able to get complete information on all airborne and
space objects that may be threatening its airspace. The next
Konteyner station is slated
to be constructed in the far east of Russia with plans for up to as many as six
installations by 2020.
The development of a defense system
that is designed to protect Russia from hypersonic weapons is particularly
pertinent given the U.S.
Navy's recent announcement that
it is testing its Prompt Global Strike weapon system can deliver its payload to
any point on the globe within an hour of launching from a guided missile
submarine. This technology is being developed to supplement America's nuclear
strike capability and serve as a further deterrent against attack. Given Washington's penchant for a first-strike attack, it's looking more likely that Russia will need to avail itself of its over-the-horizon radar defense shield.
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