MOSCOW, December 10 - RIA Novosti.Russia, according to a statement released on Monday by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, on whose territory the radar station is located.
The Gabala radar station of the "Daryal" type 5N79 (RO 7, object 754) is one of the most important elements of the missile attack warning system (SPRN) of the former USSR, and now Russia.
It is located in the area of the Zaragan settlement of the Gabala region of Azerbaijan. The radar station is located at an altitude of 680 meters above sea level, above all settlements located in the scanning radiation zone.
Intended for:
detection of ballistic missiles on flight paths within radar coverage areas;
tracking and measuring the coordinates of detected targets and jammers;
calculation of movement parameters of tracked targets according to radar measurements;
determining the type of goals;
issuing information about the target and interference environment in automatic mode.
The composition of the radar:
command and measurement center;
transmitting radio engineering center;
repair and calibration base;
node of communication and information transfer.
Lead developer JSC "RTI named after A.L. Mints", Moscow. Put into operation 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 the 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 to track the missile trajectory from the first seconds of launch and transmit data in advance for interception at the desired point.
The radar of the "Daryal" type has a phased antenna array of the receiving center 100x100 m (almost 4000 vibrator crosses) and a PAR aperture 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 RCS 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. It is distinguished by increased accuracy in measuring parameters, high speed and throughput, noise immunity, the ability to detect and simultaneously track about 100 objects.
During the Iran-Iraq war, the radar detected 139 live launches of Iraqi Scud missiles.
The object "Daryal" is a 17-storey building with a height of 87 m. Its creators were awarded the State Prize of the USSR.
The number of service personnel is about 900 military personnel and more than 200 civilian specialists (an 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 lease of the radar. One of the conditions of Azerbaijan is also an increase in the personnel of the Azerbaijani military at the radar station and the transfer to local residents of the food, 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 cost of rent, but at the same time wants to drastically reduce the territory occupied by the station. The station will be completely rebuilt; with its new look, a large amount of communications will not be needed. By 2020, it is planned to build a new generation radar station in its place (
The State Commissions of Azerbaijan and Russia continue to close the Gabala radar station. The parties reached an agreement on all issues. This was announced today by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov.
According to Khalafov, all documents have already been signed.
“We have carried out an inventory of property belonging to Russia. All organizational issues related to the transportation of property have been resolved. Now the process is ongoing. Most of this property was delivered to Russia. Only a small part remains, work in this direction is being implemented according to the schedule we have determined. This process will be completed shortly. In this regard, all conditions have also been created for the transportation of the contingent and its property,” the diplomat said.
Due to the fact that on December 9, 2012, the “Agreement on the status, principles and operating conditions of the Gabala radar station between the governments of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation” expired, the Russian side sent a note to stop the operation of the radar station from December 10 this year.
Let's remember the history of the station itself and the history of the issue of its lease.
For the first time in the world, the idea of early (over-the-horizon) detection of aircraft in the short-wave range of waves at a distance of up to 3000 km was proposed in 1946 by the designer N.I. Kabanov. Subsequently, the research work "Veer" was carried out, which in 1949 ended with the construction of a mock-up model of an over-the-horizon radar that monitored missile launches from Baikonur at a distance of 2500 km.
The need to create long-range radar stations (RLS) designed to solve the problems of warning about a missile attack and detecting objects in space was due to the appearance in service of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and spacecraft (SC), the tightening of US military doctrine and the growth of the arms race .
Work on the creation of an early warning radar (RLS) began in 1954 by a special decision of the Government of the USSR, which was instructed to develop proposals for the creation of an anti-missile defense (ABM) in Moscow. As its most important elements, the DO radar was considered, on the creation of which a team of specialists began to work under the leadership of A.L. Mints. These powerful stations at a distance of several thousand kilometers were supposed to detect enemy missiles, their warheads and determine their coordinates with high accuracy. 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. Mintz was appointed one of the chief designers of the early warning radar. In the same year, work was launched in Kazakhstan to study the reflective parameters of real warheads of ballistic missiles launched from the Kapustin Yar test site.
At the end of 1960s. along the perimeter of the state border of the USSR, the construction of the first early warning stations "Dnestr" and "Dnepr" began, which formed a continuous radar barrier with a length of more than 5 thousand kilometers. A command post was set up in the Moscow region with communication lines to the Baikonur cosmodrome, where an anti-space defense complex was being installed at that time. In the course of regular tests conducted in November 1968, for the first time in the world, a target satellite was shot down without the use of nuclear weapons. Subsequently, this modernized complex, put into service in 1979, was named IS-1 (“Satellite Fighter”).
Radar units (RLU) and complexes (RLK) based on radars such as "Dnestr", "Dnepr", "Daugava", "Daryal" and "Don-2N" are the basis of the rocket-comic defense (RKO) of the country and function as part of systems space control (SKKP), missile attack warning (EWS), anti-space (PKO) and anti-missile (ABM) defense. Radars for the detection of satellites (OS) and early detection (RO) of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) solve the problems of their timely detection and subsequent issuance of information about them for targeting weapons. The OS nodes of the PKO and KKP systems as part of several Dnestr-type radars with high-performance computing systems were created in Irkutsk (OS-1) and Balkhash (OS-2) and are connected to the Central Command Post (CCP) of the PKO and KKP systems.
Nodes of RO early warning systems (in Murmansk - RO-1, in Riga - RO-2, in Sevastopol - RO-4, in Mukachevo - RO-5, in Pechora - RO-30, in Gabala - RO-7), except for RO- 30 and RO-7 were equipped with Dnestr-M and Dnepr type radars in a configuration of two sector radars. At the RO-30 and RO-7 nodes, Daryal-type radars with high radiated power, spaced active transmitting and receiving phased arrays with digital signal processing for detecting and tracking targets were installed. The RO-1 node (Murmansk) was strengthened by the commissioning of a fundamentally new receiving radar of the Daugava type with a large-aperture phased array of the meter range, as a result of which an active-passive radar was created, operating on the basis of the probing signals of the Dnepr radar. This significantly increased the capabilities of the RO-1 to operate in a complex space-rocket and jamming environment. Subsequently, the technical solutions used in the Daugava radar were used in the development of receiving phased arrays for the Daryal series radar.
Separate radar stations, radar nodes and radar complexes, command posts located along the perimeter of the country's territory and separated by thousands of kilometers from each other were combined into a single missile attack warning system. After the modernization of the RLC units OS-1 and OS-2 of the PKO and KKP systems, they were included in the unified early warning system. Since the mid 80s. the development and improvement of the PRN, KKP, PKO and ABM systems was carried out within the framework of the country's unified missile and space defense system.
Currently, ground-based detection tools include: Pechora, Murmansk, Minsk, Gabala (Mingachevir), Balkhash and Irkutsk nodes; early warning means from the missile defense system; the main and spare gearbox early warning system with the Crocus system.
The continuous development of air attack means increased the requirements for the effectiveness of early warning systems. In this regard, RTI proposed a project for a new practically global space system for detecting launches of ballistic missiles and creating a dual-band peripheral radar field and a new heavy-duty anti-jamming radar for early warning systems. They were supposed to become the basis of new nodes and replace the radar with existing ones, thereby "closing" the ring of the country's peripheral radar field.
Two alternative projects were developed: the first (Daryal radar) was presented by RTI employees headed by V.M. Ivantsov (1971-1972), the second ("Daryal-S") - NIIDAR employees headed by A.N. Musatov (1973). The station of the RTI project assumed the use of a new (phase) method for scanning space based on the use of a phased antenna array (PAR), the possibility of a technical and technological breakthrough in the field of creating high-potential radars. The radar of the second project retained the principles of building a station of the Danube family (frequency scanning method with continuous radiation), and also made it possible to use the existing technological and industrial base for its implementation, but did not promise significant progress in the field of radar technology. Despite the fact that both projects met the requirements of the assignment, the first project with the Darial radar won, and V.M. was appointed its chief designer. Ivantsov, the first deputy - A.M. Skosyrev.
The essence of the first project was based on the phased development of the early warning radar field of the meter range, bringing the characteristics of all radar nodes to the characteristics of the Daryal radar. The basis of this program was the so-called universal receiving position (UPP) and typical transmitting position (TPP). The SCP made it possible to receive and process the signals reflected from the target emitted by the Dnepr locator, and differed from the receiving position of the Daryal radar in its great control and noise immunity capabilities. Further improvement of the node was ensured by the replacement of the Dnepr with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, working in conjunction with the UPP previously created at the node.
The Daryal radar is distinguished by an increased energy potential (radiation power of about 2 MW), which ensures the detection of targets the size of a soccer ball at a distance of up to 6000 km in a field of view of 110 degrees. in azimuth, increased accuracy of measuring parameters, high speed and throughput, noise immunity, the ability to detect and simultaneously track about 100 objects.
The station consists of 2 spaced apart positions - a universal receiving position (UCP), which had the best performance in control and security in comparison with the receiving part of the Dnepr radar, and a typical transmitting position (TPP). At the same time, both positions are compatible with the positions of the Dnepr radar. This allows you to gradually upgrade the functioning node with the Dnepr radar to the characteristics of the Daryal radar. At the first stage, the ORTU housed the SCP, capable of receiving and processing signals emitted by the Dnepr radar, and at the second stage, replacing the Dnepr radar itself with the Chamber of Commerce. The transmitting center was a multi-storey building about 100 m high, on the front inclined part of which there was a phased array, the basis of which was 40x40 m antennas, consisting of 1260 transmitters. The receiving part of the radar "Daryal" was the world's first adaptive phased array of the meter range, which consisted of 4048 receiving cross-vibrators with 8096 amplifiers. The antenna was located in an 18-storey building. Many of the advantages of the Daryal radar were provided by a high-performance computer system that controlled the operation of the radar, controlled the operation of its devices and automatically processed information, and also solved other additional tasks. The development of the radar was carried out on models of the receiving and transmitting centers without creating an experimental sample. The Daugava radar station was used as a model of the receiving part, transmitting parts of the model (9 transmitters and an antenna of 27 vibrators) at the Sary-Shagan training ground next to the former TsSO-P radar station.
By decision of 1975, 2 nodes were created on the basis of the Daryal radar station - RO-30 (near the city of Pechora) and RO-7 (near the city of Gabala, Azerbaijan). In the spring of 1975, the accelerated construction of the RO-30 unit began, which at the end of 1983 successfully completed joint tests, and in March 1984 was put into service. The Gabala radar station (RO-7 unit) was successfully tested by the end of 1984, and on February 19, 1985 it was put into service. The station is designed to detect launches of ballistic missiles in the Indian Ocean, is not capable of processing information on its own, and works in conjunction with its receiving and processing centers Kvadrat and Shvertbot near Moscow. With the commissioning of these nodes, the early warning system could detect attacking ICBMs and submarine-based ballistic missiles.
Radar "Daryal-U" (chief designer A.A. Vasiliev) from the station "Daryal" was distinguished by a lower energy potential, 2 times fewer transmitters at the transmitting position and a significant increase in the ability to control this potential. This ensured the optimal distribution of radiated energy in the mode of review and target tracking due to signal splitting. The range resolution, noise immunity (due to the implementation of the receiving phased array adaptation mode), the power of the computing complex based on the M-13 multiprocessor computer were increased (up to 2.4 billion operations per second, which made it possible to implement digital signal processing and significantly improve the operation algorithm radar).
The modified radar "Daryal-UM" (chief designer V.M. Ivantsov) was distinguished by changes in the receiving and transmitting positions. Scanning sectors were increased in the SCP and losses at its edges were reduced, in the CCI - scanning sectors, the efficiency of transmitters were increased, their design was improved, and more.
The radar station controls the territories of Iran, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Australia, as well as most of the 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 to track the missile trajectory from the first seconds of launch and transmit data in advance for interception at the desired point.
The radar of the "Daryal" type has a phased antenna array of the receiving center 100 × 100 m (almost 4000 vibrator crosses) and a PAR aperture 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 0.1 m at a distance of up to 6000 km in a field of view of 110 degrees in azimuth. It is distinguished by increased accuracy of measuring parameters, high speed and throughput, noise immunity, the ability to detect and simultaneously track about 100 objects.
During the Iran-Iraq war, the radar detected 139 live launches of Iraqi Scud missiles.
The object "Daryal" is a 17-storey building with a height of 87 m. Its creators were awarded the State Prize of the USSR.
The number of service personnel is about 900 military personnel and more than 200 civilian specialists (an intergovernmental agreement sets a limit of 1.5 thousand people).
Voronezh - DM
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia leased the plant from Azerbaijan, paying $7 million a year to rent the facility, which, in general, was built by Russia.
Both Russia and Azerbaijan were quite satisfied with such relations: our neighbors received an increase in the budget, and we had a reliable object for the country's defense. Russia had plans to modernize the radar and extend its service life. According to the then Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Russia is interested in maintaining the same cost of rent, but at the same time wants to drastically reduce the territory occupied by the station. The station will be completely rebuilt; with its new look, a large amount of communications will not be needed. By 2020, it was planned to build a new generation radar station (of the Voronezh VP type) in its place.
Negotiations were underway between the two countries to continue the lease of the strategic facility until 2025. But quite unexpectedly, Azerbaijan wanted to increase the rent to a fantastic $300 million, that is, almost 40 times! It was clear that this was a poorly concealed desire to squeeze Russia out of Gabala. Naturally, such a price did not suit us, and at the end of December, our military left the radar station in Azerbaijan.
On December 10, 2012, the Russian side suspended the operation of the Gabala radar station.
Now the versions explaining what happened. First, behind this unfriendly step are the intrigues of the Americans, who want to weaken our air defense system before the war with Iran. Well, from the point of view of geopolitical - a well-founded explanation. However, people who are dedicated today suddenly have another version, much more worldly. Let's present it too. One of the major Azerbaijani businessmen was involved in the production chain for the execution of the state defense order of Russia and had a very fat piece of the pie from this.
However, at some point, in the course of the “redistribution of financial flows” (as it seems to be called now?), he was deprived of this piece, pushed to the sidelines of the process. And in retaliation, the ardent southern man pulled off a large-scale intrigue with the help of Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev. As a result, by joint efforts, the intriguers persuaded President Aliyev to raise the price for renting the radar station to Moscow to heaven. This is how, due to disputes between “specific” businessmen, Russia has to leave the Gabala radar station.
The next and main question is: how much will our defense capability suffer from such a step? For an answer, let's turn to one of the authoritative military experts, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko. His conclusion is not so fatal: after leaving Gabala, there will be no significant losses for our defense capability. All tasks for monitoring the southern regions of the planet will now be assigned to a new generation radar station of the Voronezh type, which was launched back in 2009 in Armavir. This is a station with a high degree of prefabrication with a modular construction principle, that is, it is more functional, modern and designed for constant modernization. The Armavir radar station has a more extended tracking sector, and it is impossible to hide a single combat missile launch towards Russia from its keen “eye”.
Thus, the “bang” of our Azerbaijani partners only pushed the Russian Armed Forces to further modernization (I am talking about this seriously, without any irony). New stations are much cheaper, easier and faster to build - a year and a half instead of the previous seven years that took to build huge concrete monsters.
New radar stations are the eyes and ears of our aerospace defense system, Igor Korotchenko emphasized, and Russia will build as many of them as it takes to fully control all missile-hazardous areas. As for Azerbaijan, let's put it this way, he made a mistake. Russia greatly appreciated the trusting relations that existed between our countries. Let's not forget that a huge number of Azerbaijanis live and work with us. However, the unfriendly demarche made by the leadership of the republic is unlikely to affect our attitude towards its citizens living in Russia. Nevertheless, in international relations there is a principle of reciprocity, in other words, as it comes around, it will respond. I hope that our country will not take petty revenge on Azerbaijan for what happened, but, of course, it will take this incident into account in its policy...
As for visible acquisitions, according to our expert, Azerbaijan will become the full-fledged owner of the cyclopean structure, stuffed with long-outdated equipment and completely useless for the Azerbaijani (and any other) army. Firstly, there are no personnel in the republic to maintain the radar station, and secondly, disconnected from the global missile attack warning system of Russia, this station is turning into a meaningless structure.
sources
http://www.arms-expo.ru/055057052124049056048054.html
http://i-korotchenko.livejournal.com/526608.html
It's time to remind you about, as well as what it is The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -Radar "Daryal" ("Object number 754") is a missile attack early warning station (EWS) designed to detect launches of ground and sea ballistic missiles (BR) capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as well as for continuous monitoring of outer space. The station, located near the village of Zaragan in the Gabala region of Azerbaijan, controls the territory within a radius of 6,000 kilometers. In the line of sight of the station - the territory and airspace of Iran, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Australia, as well as most of the countries of Africa, the islands of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The Gabala radar can simultaneously track 20 complex and 100 single targets.
The development of the Daryal radar station began in the mid-1960s, when new trends in the development of means of attack for potential adversaries determined increased requirements for early warning systems. Then it was proposed to create a new space system for detecting launches of BR and a dual-band peripheral radar field. The basis of this program was the so-called. universal receiving position (UCP) and typical transmitting position (TPP). The UPP made it possible to receive and process signals reflected from the target emitted by the Dnepr radar, and differed from the receiving position of the Daryal radar by significantly greater control and noise immunity capabilities. Further improvement of the node was ensured by the replacement of the "Dnepr" with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, working in conjunction with the UPP previously created at the node. For the first time in world practice, the UPP provided for the creation of an adaptive phased antenna array.
Developed as part of a preliminary design in 1968, the Daryal radar, designed for high radiated power and having a huge area of \u200b\u200bthe antenna fabric, was supposed to be equipped with nuclear autonomous power sources. According to the original plan, this radar was to be placed in the Far North of the USSR in the region of Franz Josef Land in order to achieve the maximum warning time.
On April 14, 1975, a decision was made to create the Daryal radar station at the sites in Pechora and Gabala. The construction of the Stopor facility with a 16-storey building of the Daryal radar station (87 meters high) at the Gabala junction, at the insistence of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR, began in 1982. The junction was commissioned in 1985. The construction was finally completed in 1987 The creators of the radar were awarded the State Prize of the USSR.
Radar for detection and tracking of ballistic and space objects "Daryal" is designed to detect ballistic missiles, track them, measure coordinates and calculate trajectory parameters. Thus, the Gabala radar is an early warning system, and not the so-called X-band radar used to target anti-missiles. Distinctive features of the station "Daryal":
- increased range due to high energy potential;
- increased accuracy of parameter measurement;
- high speed and throughput;
- maintaining performance in a complex interference environment;
- the ability to serve high-orbit targets;
- implementation of multichannel reception.
The operation of the radar station and the processing of radar information are carried out by a high-performance computer complex. The station is equipped with means of protection against space and aerodynamic interference carriers, its technical capabilities make it possible to determine the parameters of the ionosphere. In this case, correction factors for determining the coordinates of targets are entered automatically. The technical resource of the Gabala radar station ensures its continuous round-the-clock performance until 2012 inclusive.
The Gabala radar station conducts reconnaissance of outer space in a given sector, monitors ballistic missile launches in the Middle East and Central Asian directions. The information and analysis center located at the facility continuously transmits data on the rocket and space situation to the Russian missile attack warning system. Experts note that the permanent operation of the station is considered by the Russian side as one of the links in a set of response measures to the US unilateral withdrawal from the 1972 ABM treaty.
The fate of the radar station was one of the issues at the talks between Russia and Azerbaijan in Moscow back in 1997. During the period from January 1992 to July 1997, the Russian Federation's debt to the Republic of Azerbaijan amounted to about 100 million denominated rubles. Based on this, by decree of the President of Azerbaijan, the unit was removed from combat duty.
On July 3, 1997, an Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Security was signed between Russia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Russian and Azerbaijani sides at the meeting of government delegations came to a common opinion on the status of the radar, the term of its lease and payment: the lease term of the radar station is 10 years; the amount of annual payments from Russia to Azerbaijan for the lease of the station - $ 7 million; Azerbaijan will provide air defense cover for the radar facility, and the Russian Federation will provide modernization and installation of new air defense systems. The purpose of the agreement was to preserve the preservation of a closed radar field in the missile attack warning system and to receive information from Russia about the rocket and space situation in the southern direction. In accordance with the document, Russia operates the radar only for information and analytical purposes. The agreement was ratified and entered into force in October 2002.
Until December 2012, from 900 to 1,400 Russian servicemen (according to various estimates) and up to 200 civilian specialists were serving at the Gabala radar station.
In 2011, at the interstate level, the issue of extending the lease of the Daryal radar began to be discussed. According to Russian media reports, initially Azerbaijan asked the Russian side for $15 million in rent per year, then raised the required amount to $150 million, and then to $300 million.
As a result, the parties did not come to a consensus on the issues of rent, and on December 10, 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan received a note from Russia on the suspension of the operation of the Gabala radar station.
Nail Mehdiyev: “We must answer our American friends in the form in which they answer us about the Karabakh conflict”
Vesti.Az interview with the teacher of the Department of Television and Radio Systems of the Azerbaijan Technical University, reserve officer of the Missile Forces Nail Mehdiyev.
Gabala
In December, the lease term for the Gabala radar station expired. A lot has been said in the media about Russia's refusal to further lease the radar station, but few people understand: what goals and tasks does this station fulfill?
- The Gabala radar station, built in Azerbaijan in 1985 and put on combat duty in 1987, is an early warning system for a missile attack on the country. In the beginning, she covered the territory of the USSR from the south, and then worked in the interests of Russia and the CIS countries. It conducts constant monitoring of air and space in the sector of its review. The zone of its observation includes part of the airspace of China, India, the entire Middle East and part of Africa. At one time, the construction of the Gabala radar station gave impetus to the development of the infrastructure of this region and Azerbaijan as a whole. In particular, due to the lack of energy capacity, the Shamkhor hydroelectric power station was built.
As you know, large-scale reforms were carried out in the Russian armed forces, which led to a significant reduction in the size and armament of the Russian Army. The number of military districts in the Russian Federation has decreased from six to four. In this context, does Russia need the Gabala radar station and what role does it play today?
The Gabala radar station, in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics and its favorable location, is a unique measuring complex capable of performing a variety of tasks. We live in the era of globalization, therefore, in addition to military tasks, information from the Gabala radar station may be of interest to air traffic organization and control services on a global scale. Today, the number of aircraft that are simultaneously in the air is constantly growing and it is becoming increasingly difficult to control air traffic. The sooner and more you get information about the air situation, the better the decisions will be made to avoid air crashes. Air transport companies always pay ground services for the service of providing traffic information. Data from the Gabala radar station can be used in meteorology, for monitoring the state of the ionosphere and in radio astronomy. As for the military aspect, military tension and the number of local military conflicts in the world are constantly growing, and our eastern region is no exception. The number of countries with missile weapons is increasing. Therefore, information from the Gabala radar station will allow timely detection of unauthorized missile launches, their deviation from the flight path and time to take adequate measures.
- Why then did Russia suspend the work of the Gabala radar station?
Here it is necessary to clarify one technical point. The Gabala radar station consists of a transmitter with its own antenna area of 40x40 square meters, with a power of 5 MW; from a receiver with an antenna with an area of 100x100 square meters; control point and power supply system. Only the transmitter is suspended. The receiver continues to work, thanks to which the radar continues its work on combat duty, in the so-called covert - passive mode.
- How then can it perform its functions to the fullest if one of the important blocks does not work?
On the territory of the South Caucasus, a large number of radar stations, television transmitters and other emitting devices located in different countries operate around the clock. The radio signals emitted by them are also reflected from airborne objects. Receiving and processing these radio signals, the Gabala radar station is able to determine their coordinates. In addition, there are also many radio devices on board modern aircraft, the radiation from which can be used to detect them. Radio signals sent from radar transmitters, similar in type to the Gabala radar station, located on the territory of Russia, are received by the Gabala radar station receiver and also serve for its normal functioning in full.
In this mode of operation, when the radar transmitter and receiver are removed at a certain distance from each other, it even improves the quality of radio reception, because the nearby transmitter creates interference for its own radar receiver. Diversity radar stations, when two receivers receive radio signals from one transmitter, resemble the ears of an owl. Due to the large head, the owl's ears are far apart. External sounds enter the ears of an owl with some delay from each other. Thanks to this, the owl accurately determines not only the range, but also the direction of the sound source. And it easily catches mice at dusk, hearing their squeak hundreds of meters away.
Conclusion: since the Gabala radar station is functioning successfully, Russia is obliged to continue paying rent to Azerbaijan in the amount of $7 million per year.
- Why then Russia does not agree with Azerbaijan's demand to increase the rent up to $300 million a year?
An alternative to the Gabala radar station can be a satellite constellation deployed over this region, consisting of 5-7 satellites. Each of the Russian satellites capable of observing aerial objects in the southern region from space costs $70-100 million. The lifetime of these satellites is 6-10 years. This means that in the satellite version, the cost of the space-based missile early warning system will cost Russia $35-100 million a year, which is much cheaper than what Azerbaijan is asking for. In addition, the money will be directed to the production of its own satellites. The Russian space industry will be loaded with work. There is another option: to place the radar antenna inside the airship. Such an airship has already been built in the USA. It cost the American treasury $160 million. An airship 100 meters long and 20 meters high at an altitude of 2 km, sees 1.5 more than the best ground-based radar. In addition, the airship travels at a speed of 200 km/h and does not need to rent land. In Russia, a program has been launched to build such airships. Modern technologies make it possible to fill them not with flammable hydrogen, as was the case in the 1930s, but with safe helium.
How true are the statements of a number of experts that the equipment of the Gabala radar station is outdated and does not meet modern requirements.
The Gabala radar station was built in 1985 and cannot be considered old from this point of view. The radar equipment is built on a block-modular basis and allows you to replace and upgrade these modules without removing the station from combat duty. In general, the concept of old weapons is rather arbitrary. The Azerbaijani army, judging by what was shown at military parades, is armed with T-72 tanks developed in the late 60s, the Tochka tactical missile system was adopted by the USSR in 1981, MIG-29 fighters developed in 1972. The American B-52 strategic bombers are generally a development of the late 60s of the last century. And this does not prevent the "grandfather" of American military aviation from flying and fighting successfully so far. In the former Yugoslavia, Serbian air defense forces managed to shoot down an American F-117 stealth bomber with the old S-125 system, which, like the Gabala radar station, operates in the meter wavelength range, where it is perfectly visible.
So, as they say, the new wife is not always better than the old one.
- Some experts in Azerbaijan believe that information from the Gabala radar station through Russian channels comes to Armenia as a member of the CSTO and this harms Azerbaijan. Can the Gabala radar station work in favor of Armenia?
- The information received from the Gabala radar station is not suitable for waging a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Gabala radar station, as a far-sighted person, perfectly sees everything that is far away and sees poorly what is happening under its nose. On the technical side, this is called the blind or dead zone. This is the minimum distance after which the station is practically blind. In addition, the antennas of the Gabala radar station are directed towards Armenia and are fixed. It is physically impossible to deploy them towards Baku.
Azerbaijani political scientists claim that the closure of the Gabala radar station will not harm the Azerbaijani-Russian relations. Do you agree with this statement?
The Gabala radar station is the eye of Russia. How would you react to someone who is going to gouge out your eye? Russia has enough levers of pressure on Azerbaijan, and the Georgian side's "questions that have arisen" regarding the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway are one of them. Russian military experts claim that NATO needs this rail link for the operational deployment of troops to the North Caucasus. We should not forget the situation with Russia's recognition of the separative regimes of Ossetia and Abkhazia. In Abkhazia, in the Lower Eshers, at a depth of 2 kilometers, there is a Russian military seismic laboratory. Therefore, Russia did not allow Georgia to enter this region and liquidate this base. It must be understood that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was forced to leave his post not because of a conflict over the ownership of the Artek pioneer camp in Crimea, but because of his refusal to transmit information to Russia from early warning radar stations located on the territory of Ukraine.
In addition, with the permission of Azerbaijan, American radar stations have been deployed in Astara and Khizi. Therefore, attempts to close the radar station in Gabala will be perceived in Russia as an unfriendly step.
Some media have reported that the US, NATO and Israel are strongly recommending Azerbaijan to close the Gabala radar station. Maybe heed their advice?
It is necessary to answer our new American friends in the form in which they answer us about the Karabakh conflict: "whatever joint decision Russia and the United States make on the Gabala radar station, Azerbaijan will welcome such." The Gabala radar station maintains parity with similar US systems. They can be reduced jointly without disturbing the balance in this matter. This is not our problem. If the monitoring of outer space is unilaterally eliminated, then it will become impossible to determine the identity of the missiles attacking the country. Due to errors, provocations or technical malfunctions, viruses in the computers of these systems, World War III may begin. During the Iran-Iraq war, the radar detected 139 live launches of Iraqi Scud missiles.
This is not our problem at all. The United States, England, France and Germany first sold Iran modern equipment, technologies and uranium enrichment plants. Let me remind you that the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr was the first to be built by the German company Siemens. As Lenin rightly wrote, "the capitalists will even sell us the rope with which we want to hang them." And now they want to collect the heat with the wrong hands, including at the expense of Azerbaijan. In the event of a conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel, Iran will subject the airfields of Azerbaijan to air and missile strikes: Bina, in the village of Z. Tagiev (Pump), in Ganja and in Nakhchivan. These airfields have a long runway on which heavy American Hercules transport aircraft with equipment, manpower and weapons can land. Airfields in Tbilisi and Kutaisi, where there are airfields of a similar class, will be subjected to the same strikes. I don't understand why Azerbaijan should take risks for the interests of the US and Israel?
In some Russian media, a message flashed that Azerbaijan's intransigence was due to the fact that Russia was preventing the construction of an oil pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, through which oil could be pumped from Central Asia to Europe, bypassing Russia. Can the demand to raise the rent for the Gabala radar station be considered a symmetrical response from Azerbaijan?
If Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and other countries want to send their energy resources to Europe via the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, then it is they who should negotiate with Russia on the construction of an oil pipeline. These are their problems. Azerbaijan is only a transit country here, which, as one of the contractors, can take part in the construction of underwater oil and gas pipelines.
- What is the use of Azerbaijan in finding a foreign military facility on its territory - the Gabala radar station, and why is the question of its closure so acute right now?
- The Gabala radar station is the property of Azerbaijan. It is served by specialists from Russia and from a legal point of view, the Constitution of Azerbaijan is not violated.
The US and Israel are well aware of Russia's pro-Iranian foreign policy. The movement of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems in Armenia to the borders of Iran, to cover its territory, the launching of the Dagestan missile patrol ship in the Caspian Sea, armed with cruise missiles with a radius of 2000 km, is a clear confirmation of this. They understand that as long as the Gabala radar station is operating, a sudden attack on Iran will not work. During Operation Desert Storm, the Gabala radar station recorded all 302 cruise missile launches without exception from American bombers, surface ships and nuclear submarines. "Daryal" recorded 15 cases of missing missiles on the trajectory and 30 cases of missiles being hit by Iraqi air defenses.
Therefore, while the Gabala radar station operates on the territory of Azerbaijan, fragile peace remains in our region. While the Gabala radar station is operating, Russia is interested in stability within Azerbaijan. Therefore, Azerbaijan needs to protect the Gabala radar station like a crystal vase.
Many countries have oil and gas. But no one has the Gabala radar station except Azerbaijan! This determines the important role of Azerbaijan in global politics. If the Gabala radar station is closed, the US and Israel will be tempted to attack Iran. If their aircraft bombs the Iranian underground uranium enrichment plants, then the radioactive dust that has risen will force millions of Iranian refugees to seek salvation in Azerbaijan. In my opinion, this will lead to general chaos in Azerbaijan, the collapse of the country's infrastructure and the loss of independence.
Bahram Batiev
VKontakte Facebook Odnoklassniki
Refusal to pump Azerbaijani oil is motivated both economically and politically
Not even 17 years have passed since the existence of an unfavorable agreement on the pumping of Azerbaijani oil through the territory of Russia, as it was “resolutely” broken by Moscow. The deal turned out to be unfavorable for several reasons. Firstly, it provided preferential terms to Azerbaijan, and secondly, Azerbaijan in recent years has been constantly reducing the volume of raw materials, filling the pipe with only 50% of the promised volume, which made its operation not only unprofitable, but unprofitable. By the way, Azerbaijan, in response to Moscow's actions, has already announced that a decision will soon be made on the implementation of the Nabucco-West gas pipeline project, through which Azerbaijani gas should get to Europe bypassing Russia.
The economic component of the decision to break the unprofitable agreement made by Dmitry Medvedev is described in detail in our material “Russia - Azerbaijan: come on, goodbye!” . But this issue, of course, has both geopolitical and political aspects, which are no less important.
A number of experts, however, are inclined to believe that there is no "politics" here. “From a political point of view, I do not see a deterioration in relations with Azerbaijan. There is also no competition in the energy markets with Azerbaijan. Most likely, the question is more accounting. If earlier the losses of Transneft from the maintenance of the pipe were greater on paper, now the losses are already quite real, ”says Sergey Pikin, director of the Energy Development Fund, quoted by Vzglyad.
But many tend to see a political trail here as well. Some people hear echoes of the Gabala radar station in this decision, while others do not rule out that Russia did not like Azerbaijan's desire to help Ukraine overcome its dependence on Gazprom's gas. As you know, at the end of last year, Baku promised at the end of 2017 to start gas supplies to Ukraine from its Shah Deniz-2 field. True, in small volumes: at the first stage - about 2 billion cubic meters per year with a gradual increase to 5 billion. However, further Ukraine should have been reinforced by the supply of Turkmen gas through the TANAP gas pipeline.
As for the Gabala radar station, the process of removing equipment from there is in full swing. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov told the media on May 10 that a complete inventory of property belonging to Russia had been carried out, and its removal would be completed in the coming weeks. Recall that the reason for the refusal to use the radar was the exorbitant demands of Baku, which wished to increase the cost of rent many times over - from $7 million a year to $300 million. Moscow did not want to take this step, motivating this, in particular, by the fact that the station is rapidly becoming obsolete and will soon be completely unnecessary.
Azerbaijan itself does not intend to use the radar station: as President of this country Ilham Aliyev said earlier, Azerbaijan does not need the information it receives. Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" recalls, some "hot heads" in this republic offered to give it to NATO for use. Of course, official Baku did not dare to take such a demonstrative step, but this is by no means a reason to say that everything is fine in relations between our two countries.
Russian political scientist and journalist, editor-in-chief of the Political Class magazine Vitaly Tretyakov, in an interview with the Haqqin.az website, called what is happening in Russian-Azerbaijani relations stagnation, though not negative, but positive. “Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy in which the US and Turkey are priorities. Russia is at best in third position. And you want Moscow to turn a blind eye to this?” - asks the master of Russian journalism. In his opinion, what is happening around the Gabala radar station is just one of the episodes. Russia urgently needs a strategic ally in the Caucasus region, while Azerbaijan is "at best a commercial partner." “But in commerce, everything is simple: do not meet us halfway, so why show excessive political sympathy for you?” Tretyakov stressed.
Of course, Moscow is not preparing any coup in Azerbaijan. Recall that some time ago, Mikheil Saakashvili announced such an allegedly real threat. “A certain Sadigov from the Gardabani region of Georgia was found in Russia, who is a billionaire and promises that he will achieve autonomy for the Azerbaijanis of Georgia ... Sadigov, together with billionaires Vagit Alekperov and others, are preparing in Azerbaijan the same thing that was done in Georgia. They are preparing to arrange a change of power with the help of big money,” the outgoing Georgian president frightened official Baku. This, of course, is nonsense, although, as the same Tretyakov correctly noted, Russia “can destabilize, and very quickly, the situation in any state in the post-Soviet space and even in some countries of Eastern Europe.” And Baku would do well to remember this.