Gabala radar and the like where. Aerospace defense - LiveJournal. Analytical Service Turan

The loss by Russia of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan occurred as a result of not an astronomical increase in rent by official Baku, as is commonly believed, but American blackmail about plans to deploy a new program like "Star Wars".

At the end of 2006, the administration of President George W. Bush announced the creation in four stages of a system of elements of missile defense (ABM) in Europe, which would have to protect European countries from nuclear missile threats from the rogue countries of Iran, Syria and even the distant DPRK.

The Russians reasonably stated that this program was directed against Russia's national security. And in principle they were right.

The Star Wars Mystery

According to the announced program, at the first stage, ships equipped with Aegis complexes and Standard-3 interceptor missiles have already been deployed in the Mediterranean. In addition, a missile defense radar was deployed in Turkey. At the second stage, by 2015, Washington expects to deploy mobile batteries with Standard-3 missiles to Romania, and by 2018 they are expected to be deployed in Poland.

Finally, by 2020, it was planned to put them into operation such systems that are capable of protecting the entire territory of NATO countries and against intercontinental ballistic missiles. Only the last stage of the missile defense system, which provides for the interception of potential adversary's missiles at the initial stage of the flight, is currently estimated at $ 500 billion. If implemented, it will cover the entire territory of Russia and practically neutralize the strategic missile and space forces of the Russian Federation.

Is Russia able to present an asymmetrical response to the Americans? Of course not. How the USSR could not do this in response to the "Star Wars" program announced in 1983 by US President Ronald Reagan. The Soviets, which began to lag behind in their power, were forced to reduce medium and short-range missiles and reduce threats against Western Europe and American military bases.

The new Bush program too frightened the Russian leadership, which understood that the military-technical and economic potential of the country would not be able to keep up with a new arms race, should it start.

US Mystery

Bargaining this time was the condition for narrowing the range of the Russian radar survey in almost all directions along the perimeter of the borders of the Russian Federation. In this sense, it becomes clear why the radar station in Gabala took the central place in the anti-missile game.

This station carried out surveillance on the vital space for the United States from the Indian Ocean to the vastness of North Africa, where events of a geopolitical scale had already unfolded. The technical data of the station speaks not only of its ability to track flying objects, as it is commonly believed.

The Gabala radar station, codenamed "Daryal", was put into operation in 1985 and provided detection of targets the size of a soccer ball at a range of up to 6000 km, and after modernization - 8500 km. It has an increased measurement accuracy, high speed and bandwidth, noise immunity, the ability to detect and simultaneously track about 100 objects, including underwater ones. The station is not capable of processing information on its own, and works in conjunction with the centers of its reception and processing "Kvadrat" and "Shvertbot" near Moscow. In practice, this is a powerful intelligence structure capable of tracking the actions of the Americans throughout this space, which, of course, cannot be included in the plans of the latter.

The Kremlin has tried in every possible way to retain this important intelligence facility, even under American surveillance. It is no coincidence that on June 7, 2007, at the G8 summit in Germany, President Vladimir Putin offered the United States joint control of the station, which should have been a guarantee that Moscow is not monitoring American actions in the region. Putin said: Russia offers America to jointly use the capabilities of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan to conduct the necessary "anti-missile monitoring" (in particular, over Iran), and if Washington accepts this proposal, there is no need to deploy missile defense elements in Eastern European countries. This idea was rejected and the Russians, after tense negotiations, as subsequent events show, were forced to yield. The end of this dispute was put by the global financial crisis that broke out in 2008, which forced Moscow to abandon not only plans for an asymmetrical response, but also to narrow plans for rearming the army with conventional weapons due to a catastrophic reduction in funds.

Anne Derse Mystery

The final point on this issue was set in the fall of 2011. This is evident from the actions of the Azerbaijani leadership, which exactly a year ago raised the cost of renting the Gabala radar station from $ 7 million to $ 300 million. This step became a formal reason for the termination of the station's activities in the future. It is clear that official Baku could never have put forward such a crazy condition for two reasons:

First, based on the capabilities of his potential, Aliyev could not go against the will of Moscow;

Second, the absence of a Russian military presence would sharply narrow Aliyev's maneuver between the United States and the Russian Federation and increase the influence of Washington, which insists on the demand for democratization, which Baku does not want. Both the Americans and the Russians needed a formal diplomatic excuse in the form of the prohibitive overstatement of the rent. The latter is more to save face.

An argument in favor of the version of the necessary narrowing of Russian intelligence capabilities is also evidenced by the fact that the Voronezh radar station in Armavir, located outside the Greater Caucasus Range, is not capable of replacing the station in Azerbaijan. “This is a weak station and its capabilities are significantly inferior to the Gabala one, although the Russians argue the opposite ... The Russians invested $ 1 billion in the modernization of the Gabala radar station, and only $ 70 million was spent on the station in Armavir. The range of the station in Armavir covers 2500 km, and Gabala - 8500 km ", WikiLeaks reported with reference to Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev, who confessed about this on March 14, 2009 with the US Ambassador to Baku Ann Derse.

From the dispatch of Ambassador Derse dated March 19 of this year. It can be seen that Moscow, after the proclamation of the American initiative to deploy a European missile defense system, conducted controversial negotiations, including the abandonment of the station in Gabala and the extension of the agreement in 2012. This indicated that the issue was always in the stage of intensive bargaining between the United States and the Russian Federation.

Erdogan's secret

The station's fate was finally sealed on September 12, 2012, when the US National Research Council recommended to the White House and Congress to abandon the fourth phase of the deployment of missile defense systems in Europe. "The fourth stage should be canceled because it is not necessary for the defense of Europe, and it is less than optimal for the defense of the United States," concluded the authors of the report, which are experts from among retired military leaders, scientists and former US administration officials.

The experts recommended moving the center of gravity of the fourth stage of missile defense, which is less costly, far to the East. NIS has advised, in addition to Fort Greeley, Alaska and Vandenberg, California, to establish another silo-based interceptor missile interceptor base in the continental United States. They propose to place another similar base in the northeastern part of the United States. The expert council's conclusion meant that the Russians gave up the fight for Gabala in exchange for freezing the fourth stage of the American missile defense system in Europe.

On December 10, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry announced a not taken seriously explanation about the suspension of the operation of the Gabala radar station: at the negotiations preceding the closure of the station, "readiness to continue cooperation with the Russian side" was demonstrated, but the rent did not suit it.

From the text of the statement it followed that the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 10 submitted to Azerbaijan a note on the suspension of the operation of the station in connection with the "Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation on the status, principles and conditions of use of the Gabala radar station" which had expired on December 9, 2012. The agreement on the lease of the radar by Russia, signed in 2002, expires on December 24, 2012.

It is interesting that this decision of Russia was announced to the whole world not from Moscow, but from Baku, which confirms that the true rationale behind the decision of the fate of the radar lies far beyond Azerbaijan.

On September 11, 2012, Gabala hosted the Second Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which ended with the signing of seven documents. In terms of their importance, they did not particularly correspond to the high status of the meeting: on metrology, television partnership, rescue services, seed production and others. The meeting was previously planned in Baku, but was unexpectedly postponed to a place five steps from the Gabala radar station. This meeting, which took place almost simultaneously with the release of the US National Research Council's ABM report, became a symbolic message from Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that the Russian military era in Azerbaijan is over.

Analytical Service Turan

Employees of the Daryal radar station (radar) located in Azerbaijan's Gabala, which is being transferred to rotational service, wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin asking him to protect their rights. The document was signed by several dozen wives of Russian officers, who from August 1, according to the decision of the leadership, must remain on the street - none of the officers has either permanent or official housing in Russia.

“We do not demand anything impossible, we are just looking for a human relationship, a clear explanation of what is happening and what will happen to our families,” the women wrote to Putin.

According to the text of the letter, a copy of which is at the disposal of Izvestia, by August 1, officers and sergeants serving at the station must independently take their wives and children to Russia. Those who cannot do this are asked to write reports for transfer to another duty station or resign from the army.

“An explanation of how to organize the move has not been received by the unit to date, inclusive,” the letter says. But work has been organized to liquidate the kindergarten and the Russian sector in the local school, in which the officers 'children studied, and their wives worked as teachers, the officers' wives say.

The letter emphasizes that it is not clear what to do with the children in families where both parents are military personnel. In addition, the parents of the wives of some Russian officers do not live in Russia, but in other CIS countries.

The Daryal Gabala radar station provides Russia with control over the airspace of the entire Middle East, China, India and the Indian Ocean up to the northern coast of Australia. The station lease expires on December 24th.

The leadership of the Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO), which controls the station in Gabala, explained to Izvestia that the rotational method was chosen for the sake of economy.

- In order to somehow reduce the cost of rent, it was proposed to minimize the number of rented objects and refuse to use the military camp. It was proposed to settle the officers in the housing stock on the territory of the station itself - there are former barracks there. For a rotational method, such housing is quite suitable, - explained the interlocutor of Izvestia.

In addition, the representative of the East Kazakhstan region stressed that the officers in Gabala "earn decent money and can afford not only to move to Russia, but also to buy housing."

- The average salary of a serviceman is € 4,000. The minimum salary is € 2,500. For civilian specialists, it is about the same. With such an income, it is not difficult to find housing, - the representative of the command of the East Kazakhstan region is sure.

At the same time, the unit command claims that they share the indignation of the officers and their wives, but they cannot do anything.

- There will be no kindergarten staff in the staffing table, the wives of officers who worked as teachers in the Russian sector of the school are actually listed in other positions, and we are forced to prohibit them from such combination. But we are doing everything possible to help those who cannot live like this go on leaving: we give leave for 10 days "for personal reasons." During this time, it is quite possible to take the family to their parents or settle outside the military camp - for example, rent an apartment in Gabala, - explained a high-ranking officer of the unit.

He also stressed that officers who have nowhere to take their families out can submit a transfer report at any time, but many are kept high salaries. However, from the beginning of the year, out of almost 200 officers in the unit, a little more than 140 remained. At the same time, he stressed that after the transfer to the rotational method, officers without wives would be difficult to keep from drunkenness and debauchery.

“The family still serves as a serious deterrent against addictions,” the officer noted.

According to the officers' wives, one third of the women who remained in the unit are “in position” or are caring for children of 1.5-3 years old. More than 100 work at the radar station as civilian personnel. From time to time they are offered to “resign of their own accord,” but they are not taken to vacancies.

In the Russian section of the local school, 150 children studied, which, when moving, will have to be urgently placed in other educational institutions. At the same time, about 20 officers with their families are "at the disposal", that is, they have already been removed from their posts and are waiting for permanent apartments to resign from the army.

“We believe in the effectiveness of the reforms carried out in the army, aimed at strengthening the defense capability of our state, but we believe that they should not adversely affect our families,” the officers' wives wrote to Putin.

In the reception of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Izvestia was confirmed that the situation “arouses sympathy,” but they explained that the minister was now on a business trip.

April 9th, 2012, 06:43 pm

Original taken from korotchenko_i в Armenian alternative to Gabala radar station - Igor Korotchenko

Armenia's radar proposal is a real alternative for Russia

The Russian Federation can begin negotiations with Armenia on the construction of a radar, if it cannot agree with Azerbaijan on a lease in Gabala.

Russia and Azerbaijan have been negotiating for a long time on the terms of renting a radar station in Gabala. The contract, signed in 2002, expires in December this year. In this connection, Russia is trying to agree on the prolongation of its action. It is expected that the results of the negotiations will be announced this summer.

Wherein Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, fully admits Russia's acceptance of Armenia's proposal.

“For some unknown reason, Azerbaijan suddenly significantly increased the rent for the use of the Russian station in Gabala,” said the expert to Finam FM. - Such demands from Azerbaijan are unrealistic and absolutely do not correspond to the spirit of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. In my opinion, they are not based on real financial and economic calculations. In these conditions, Armenia's proposal can be a very real alternative. "

However, the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan stated about the readiness of the state to provide the territory of Armenia for the construction of the Russian radar: “I think that there may even be advantages here, since Armenia is a mountainous country. The coverage may be wider, "Lenta quotes the prime minister with reference to Kommersant.

March 15th, 2012, 11:34 am

Azerbaijan's demands to increase the rent for Russia's use of an early warning radar station located in Gabala more than forty times - from $ 7 million to $ 300 million - surprisingly coincided with the aggravation of the situation around Syria and Iran. At the same time, negotiations between Russia and the United States on European missile defense have reached an impasse - this was stated on February 29 by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who was in Kaliningrad at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Cooperation with NATO in the field of missile defense.

And this gives a reason to see in the actions of official Baku not only a rough economic interest, but also a kind of policy, at the same time - clearly oriented. Yes, there were experts who immediately saw only an economic component in Azerbaijan's financial claims. As if the bargaining is actually going around the distribution of certain gas flows, and Gabala itself is only a lever of pressure on Moscow in this dispute. As you know, Azerbaijan does not exclude its participation in the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project bypassing Russia. The pipe will allow transporting gas from Turkmenistan to the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is a competitor to the South Stream pipeline.

However, official Baku rejects the gas background and says that the rent should be carried out taking into account the real value of the radar in the Russian aerospace defense system. For some reason, they are sure that this value is very great. Faraj Guliyev, member of the parliamentary committee of the Milli Majlis on defense and security, said that if the Gabala radar station will continue to be leased to Russia, then this should be done taking into account the real price. “I believe that the Azerbaijani side is completely right if in negotiations with Russia it sets certain conditions and asks for a high price for the lease of this object,” the parliamentarian stressed. At the same time, he said that Baku understands the need for this station to function as a military facility for Russia in the region.

The piquancy of the situation is that Russia itself has long doubted the need to spend millions of dollars annually on renting a radar station in Gabala and millions on its maintenance.

Raising the rent to $ 300 million will make the operation of the radar station in the Transcaucasus truly onerous, unprofitable in all respects - economic and military.

We must remember the history. In the early 1970s, the USSR began to create a very powerful and effective strategic missile defense system. One of its main components were to be powerful over-the-horizon radar systems, which were part of a single system for an early missile attack. Huge radars were built at various points in the USSR, which could monitor airspace at a distance of thousands of kilometers.

The location of the Daryal 5N79 radar station on the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR near the settlement of Gabala was determined at a time when the Shah's Iran was the most loyal US ally in the region. Then there was a real danger of deploying in this country - at least - American operational-tactical missiles with nuclear warheads. And the radar station in Gabala was aimed mainly at controlling the aerospace over Iran, although its capabilities made it possible to conduct surveillance at a distance of 8000 kilometers in the sector from Burma to Central Africa. The first stone in the foundation of the future radar station in 1976 was laid by the then first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, the father of the current president of the country, Ilham Aliyev. The station was commissioned in 1985.

After the collapse of the USSR, the nationwide missile defense system began to rapidly decline. Physically preserved, but in fact, two powerful radars in Sevastopol and Mukachevo in Ukraine were taken out of Moscow's control. An over-the-horizon radar station was blown up in Skrunda, Latvia. In reality, Russia has lost effective control over the aerospace sector in the most missile-dangerous areas.

Surprisingly, in the "dashing" nineties, we quietly began work on the creation of fundamentally new radar systems for missile attack warning and control of outer space. A series of new over-the-horizon radar stations of high factory readiness of modular type was created. From ready-made blocks, like a children's toy "Lego", it was possible to form any appearance of the radar for a specific task, to increase or, conversely, to reduce the energy potential and resolution of the radars. The creation of over-the-horizon radar systems, which had the code "Product 77Ya6" with a different letter designation - M, DM, VP - can be considered a revolutionary breakthrough in strategic missile defense, and now in the aerospace defense system. The West did not expect such a technological breakthrough from Russia.

Modular radar stations, called Voronezh, are being erected quite quickly on pre-prepared sites the size of a football field. If the radar station in Gabala was built for almost ten years, now a station with even the best characteristics can be built in two years. And in the near future, the appearance of completely unique mobile multifunctional adaptive over-the-horizon radars of the "Mars" type is expected. These radars can be quickly relocated to any missile-hazardous direction, deployed on ships. "Voronezh", not inferior to stations of the "Daryal" type, consumes incomparably less electricity - only 0.7 MW. For comparison: the station in Gabala requires 50 MW, and its maintenance there really costs a pretty penny.

At present, the "Voronezh-M" missile attack warning system in the Leningrad region is on alert. Two Voronezh-DM stations are being commissioned - not far from Armavir and in the Kaliningrad region. This year, it is planned to put into trial operation the Voronezh-VP radar complex in the Irkutsk region. Construction of similar stations in the Komi Republic and in the Murmansk Region should begin.

With the advent of the "Mars" -type radar, the problem of airspace control at any point in Russia, including those close to Azerbaijan, will disappear altogether.

That is, the need for the Gabala radar station will be lost naturally.

Indeed, why does Russia need a radar station that controls the airspace over Iran and is capable of detecting the launch of even the smallest missile from the territory of this country and flights over it of all types of aircraft? Iran does not threaten us with aggression, it does not brandish its nuclear missile club over our heads. And the US missile systems on the territory of this country, of course, cannot be deployed.

The only ones who should be interested in preserving the Gabala radar station are the United States and Israel. And then only if appropriate agreements on the exchange of information on a possible missile attack are concluded between these countries and Russia. Moreover, the agreements are mutually beneficial. In 2007, Russia proposed that the United States jointly use the Gabala radar station and abandon the deployment of its missile defense elements in Europe. Since the Americans are afraid of an Iranian missile strike, we were ready to give them a guarantee that the strike would not be unexpected. As the then-President Vladimir Putin noted, "this station covers the entire area, which is suspicious of our American colleagues."

Washington considered Moscow's proposal and refused. And now Azerbaijan’s demarche has only confirmed that the United States, of course, does not fear a missile strike from Iran.

The task of the European missile defense system is completely different - total control of the airspace over the territory of the Russian Federation.

It can be assumed that the coercion of our country to liquidate the radar station in Gabala is due to the fact that neither the United States nor Israel want Moscow - if the "X" hour happens - in no case knew where, where and what kind of missiles actually will actually fly to this region.

That is the whole secret of the "Euro-asking Punchinelle" in Azerbaijani Gabala.

MOSCOW, Dec 10 - RIA Novosti. Russia, said in a statement released on Monday by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, on whose territory the radar station is located.

Gabala radar station "Daryal" 5N79 (RO 7, object 754) is one of the most important elements of the missile attack warning system (EWS) of the former USSR, and now Russia.

Located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Zaragan village of the Gabala region of Azerbaijan. The radar is located at an altitude of 680 meters above sea level, higher than all settlements located in the scanning radiation zone.

Intended for:

detection of ballistic missiles on flight paths within the radar coverage areas;

tracking and measuring coordinates of detected targets and interference carriers;

calculation of motion parameters of tracked targets based on radar measurements;

defining the type of goals;

issuing information about the target and jamming environment in automatic mode.

Radar composition:

command and measurement center;

transmitting radio engineering center;

repair and calibration base;

communication center and information transfer.

Lead developer of JSC "RTI named after AL Mints", Moscow. Commissioned in 1983. Operates in continuous duty mode.

The radar station controls the territories of Iran, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Australia, as well as most of African countries, the islands of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

A distinctive feature of the station is the ability not only to detect a missile launch in a record short time, but also from the first seconds of launch to track the missile trajectory and transmit data in advance to intercept at the desired point.

Radar type "Daryal" has a phased antenna array of the receiving center 100x100 m (almost 4000 cross vibrators) and the aperture of the phased array of the transmitting center measuring 40x40 m (1260 powerful transmitting replaceable modules with an output pulse power of each 300 kW), provides detection of targets with an EPR of the order of 0, 1 m at a distance of up to 6000 km in a field of view of 110 degrees in azimuth. Differs in increased accuracy of parameter measurement, high speed and bandwidth, noise immunity, the ability to detect and track about 100 objects at the same time.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the radar detected 139 combat launches of Iraqi Scud missiles.

The Daryal object is a 17-storey building 87 m high. Its creators were awarded the USSR State Prize.

The number of maintenance personnel is about 900 military personnel and more than 200 civilian specialists (the intergovernmental agreement sets a limit of 1.5 thousand people).

After Azerbaijan gained independence and the radar station became its property, Russia continued to use the station. In accordance with a bilateral agreement signed in 2002, the Gabala radar station has the status of an information and analytical center and is the property of Azerbaijan. Leased to Russia for a period of 10 years. The annual rent under the 2002 agreement is $ 7 million. The agreement expires on December 24, 2012.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on negotiations with Azerbaijan to extend the lease of the Gabala radar station until 2025. According to media reports, Azerbaijan intends to sharply increase the price for the radar lease. One of the conditions for Azerbaijan is also to increase the personnel of the Azerbaijani military at the radar and transfer to local residents the sphere of catering, trade and other services in the military camp at the station.

According to Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Russia is interested in maintaining the same rental price, but at the same time wants to drastically reduce the territory occupied by the station. The station will be completely rebuilt; with its new appearance, a large amount of communications will not be needed. By 2020, it is planned to build a new generation radar station in its place (

Finally, a more or less sensible explanation

Gabala radar station - officially called the "Daryal" radar station, is deployed in the Gabala village (350 km west of Baku), not far from Ganja. Data on the number of personnel - fluctuate (from 1400 to 2000 people). It is subordinate to the Space Forces of the Russian Federation and is designed to detect ballistic and cruise missiles on flight trajectories, track and measure the coordinates of detected targets and interference carriers, as well as calculate the movement parameters of tracked targets and determine their type.

The range of the radar is up to 6-7 thousand km.
Ground-based radars with a longer target detection range, as far as we know, do not exist.
The decision to build the station was taken in 1972 by the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee in connection with the US plans to deploy a nuclear submarine base in the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia Island).
Construction began in 1976. In 1983, the first radar units were launched. In 1984, the unit took up experimental duty. In February 1985, the station was put on alert.

The Gabala station is facing outward (under the supervision of the radar is the territory of North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, as well as a significant part of the Indian Ocean). The station's territory of Russia is not visible (once again, recall that the rotation of the surveillance sector of such radars outside when they are located near the country's borders is a condition of the ABM Treaty).

The Gabala station is the only one with experience in combat launches. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the radar recorded all, without exception, 302 cruise missile launches from American bombers, surface ships and nuclear submarines, including 15 missile missiles and 30 missiles hit by Iraqi air defenses. The radar was also actively used in the post-Soviet period - during US air operations against Iraq ("Desert Fox", 1998) and the Afghan Taliban ("Enduring Freedom", 2001). The technical resource of the radar makes it possible to ensure its uninterrupted operation until 2012.

The agreement on the Russian lease of the radar was signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on January 25, 2002 and has already been ratified by the parliaments of both countries. Under the agreement, the Gabala radar station is the property of Azerbaijan. Russia leases the radar until 2012, and Moscow, without Baku's consent, has no right to conclude any agreements with a third party on the use of the radar. The station has the status of an information and analytical center.

So, the Gabala radar station is a Daryal-type station with a very high target detection radius (6-7 thousand km). This is one of the specification parameters. Another has to do with the relationship between radar and warfare strategy.

What is the specificity of the previous and new technological (and hence the military, and hence the political) era? The previous era - it is the "era of guaranteed mutual destruction" - this is the entire system in which Gabala is inscribed.

The specificity of this consistency lies in the fact that Gabala (like the entire missile attack early warning system - SPRN) was "sharpened" for instant detection of a missile attack on the USSR, guaranteeing the USSR leadership the necessary time to make a decision on a counter blow.

The leadership, having made a decision about this strike, could thereby provide the following.

First, guaranteed retribution. Which was of decisive importance.

Secondly, the suppression of some radar capabilities that turn American missiles into blind in mid-flight. This second possibility was not absolute. But it was also important.

We could not protect the entire territory of the USSR from nuclear missiles if they were already launched. The Americans could not defend themselves against our missiles either. This was the old era.

At that time, our missile defense system existed only around Moscow. And in this form it still exists. At that time, their missile defense system also protected only the area of \u200b\u200bbasing their key strategic potential - silo ICBMs in North Dakota.

Gabala was focused on a nuclear attack by a super-powerful adversary (not some Iran, but the United States, which decided to wage a nuclear war to completely destroy the USSR). And to "retaliation". All this is reflected in the technical solution. And all this is very different from what the Americans are "kneading" now.

The Americans (at least declaratively) want to protect themselves from individual "adventurous" missiles, and not from a massive strike to destroy the United States. Is such a desire only a declaration (behind which is the desire to be safe from Russian missiles that may be fired after the Americans have launched a first strike) or is it a real strategy? Let those who are supposed to answer. In the official statements we have already quoted from officials (that is, those who are "supposed"), it was said that the Americans want to protect themselves from our "retaliation", and not Europe from Iran. Now officials might say something else. But this, as they say, is an everyday matter.

Already today, the Americans want to chase every single missile aimed at the point they want to defend. They want to protect themselves. But it’s all its territory. They say they also want to protect Europe, NATO allies, all friendly countries and all progressive humanity.

Russia opposed an increase in the rent for the radar from the current $ 7.5 million to $ 300 million per year, which Azerbaijan insisted on; more advanced radar of the "Voronezh-DM" type in Armavir is already being tested

Gabala radar station Photo: AzerTAc / ITAR-TASS

Gabala radar station "Daryal" 5N79 (RO 7, object 754) is one of the most important elements of the missile attack warning system (EWS) of the former USSR, and now Russia. Located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Zaragan village of the Gabala region of Azerbaijan. The radar is located at an altitude of 680 meters above sea level, higher than all settlements located in the scanning radiation zone.

Intended for:

Detection of ballistic missiles on flight paths within radar coverage areas;

Tracking and measuring coordinates of detected targets and interference carriers;

Calculations of motion parameters of tracked targets based on radar measurements;

Goal type definitions;

Issuance of information about the target and jamming environment in automatic mode.

Radar composition:

Command and Measurement Center;

Transmitting radio engineering center;

Repair and calibration base;

Communication and information transmission center.

Lead developer JSC "RTI named after A.L. Mints ", Moscow. Commissioned in 1983.

The radar station controlled the territories of Iran, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Australia, as well as most of African countries, the islands of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Radar type "Daryal" has a phased antenna array of the receiving center 100 x100 m (almost 4000 cross vibrators) and a phased array of the transmitting center measuring 40x40 m (1260 powerful transmitting replaceable modules with an output pulse power of each 300 kW), provides target detection with an EPR of the order of 0.1 m at a distance up to 6000 km in the field of view of 110 degrees in azimuth. Differs in increased accuracy of measurement of parameters, high speed and bandwidth, noise immunity, ability to detect and simultaneously track about 100 objects.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the radar detected 139 combat launches of Iraqi Scud missiles.

The Daryal object is a 17-storey building 87 m high. Its creators were awarded the USSR State Prize.

The number of maintenance personnel is about 900 military personnel and more than 200 civilian specialists (the intergovernmental agreement sets a limit of 1.5 thousand people).

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on negotiations with Azerbaijan to extend the lease of the Gabala radar station until 2025. According to media reports, Azerbaijan intends to sharply increase the price for the radar lease. Azerbaijan's conditions were an increase in the personnel of the Azerbaijani military at the radar and the transfer of catering, trade and other services to local residents in the military camp at the station.

Russia was interested in maintaining the same rental price, but at the same time wanted to drastically reduce the territory occupied by the station. The station was subject to rebuilding. With its new appearance, a large amount of communications was not required. By 2020, it was planned to build a new generation radar station in its place (of the Voronezh VP type).

Russia expected to complete the negotiations by June 2012, since the new agreement must be concluded no later than six months before the expiration of the old agreement.

On December 10, 2012, the Russian side suspended the operation of the Gabala radar station.

Expert opinion:

The Gabala radar station was important to Russia until a much more modern radar station near Armavir appeared at its disposal. This opinion in an interview with a reporter IA REGNUM expressed the deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis. According to him, today Russia does not need the Gabala radar station at all.

“I myself am categorically against the continuation of the exploitation of this senseless object. It would be a gross mistake, ”the expert said. According to the interlocutor, the new radar significantly surpasses the Gabala one in functionality and efficiency, and its more northern location does not play any (or almost no) role.

Answering the question why, in this case, Russia was conducting protracted and difficult negotiations with Azerbaijan regarding the extension of the lease term for the Gabala radar station, Khramchikhin suggested that the loss of Gabala forced the Armavir radar station to be commissioned in a forced mode, which the Russian side would prefer to avoid ... “Besides, Russia may have wanted to have two operating stations for some time. Let's not forget that the Gabala radar station also allowed bargaining with the Americans, ”said the deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.

As for the possible impact of the decision to suspend the operation of the Gabala radar station on Russian-Azerbaijani relations, Khramchikhin noted that this is now a problem for Azerbaijan, since it was precisely because of his position that the lease was not extended. “Azerbaijan considered the Gabala radar station as a lever of influence on Russia and decided to use it. It was his mistake, as there is no longer a lever, ”concluded the expert.

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