The loss of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan by Russia was not the result of an astronomical increase in the rent by official Baku, as is commonly believed, but American blackmail about deployment plans new program type " star wars».
At the end of 2006, the administration of President George W. Bush announced the creation in four stages of a system of missile defense elements (ABM) in Europe, which would protect European countries from nuclear missile threats from rogue states Iran, Syria, and even distant North Korea.
The Russians rightly claimed that this program was directed against Russia's national security. And in principle they were right.
Mystery of Star Wars
According to the announced program, ships equipped with Aegis systems and Standard-3 interceptor missiles have already been deployed in the Mediterranean Sea at the first stage. In addition, a missile defense radar was deployed in Turkey. At the second stage, by 2015, Washington expects to transfer mobile batteries with Standard-3 missiles to the territory of Romania, by 2018 they are supposed to be deployed in Poland.
Finally, by 2020 it was planned to put into operation such systems that are capable of protecting the entire territory of NATO countries from intercontinental ballistic missiles. Only the last stage of the missile defense system, which provides for the interception of potential enemy missiles at the initial stage of flight, is today 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 capable of presenting an asymmetric 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, now falling behind in power, were forced to reduce medium and short-range missiles and reduce threats against Western Europe and American military bases.
The new Bush program frightened the Russian leadership too much, which understood that the military-technical and economic potential of the country was not able to keep up with the new arms race, if it started.
US Mystery
Bargaining this time was the condition of 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 expanses of North Africa, where geopolitical events had already unfolded. The technical data of the station speaks not only of its ability to track flying objects, as is commonly believed.
The Gabala radar station, codenamed "Daryal", was put into operation in 1985 and provided the detection of targets the size of a soccer ball at a distance of up to 6,000 km, and after modernization - 8,500 km. It has high measurement accuracy, high speed and throughput, 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 its reception and processing centers “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 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 G-8 summit in Germany, President Vladimir Putin offered the US joint management of the station, which would have been a guarantee that Moscow was not spying on US activities in the region. Putin said: Russia offers America sharing the capabilities of the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan to conduct the necessary "anti-missile monitoring" (in particular, for Iran) and if Washington accepts this proposal, there will be 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 give in. The global financial crisis that broke out in 2008 put an end to this dispute, which forced Moscow to abandon not only plans for an asymmetric response, but also to narrow plans to rearm the army with conventional weapons due to a catastrophic reduction in funds.
Mystery Ann Derse
The final point on this issue was made in the fall of 2011. This can be seen 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 stopping the operation of the station in the future. It is clear that official Baku could never put forward such a crazy condition for two reasons:
First, Aliyev, based on the possibilities of his potential, could not go against the will of Moscow;
Second, the absence of a Russian military presence would drastically narrow Aliyev's maneuver between the US and Russia and strengthen the influence of Washington, which is pushing for democratization, which Baku does not want. Both the Americans and the Russians needed a formal diplomatic reason in the form of an exorbitant increase in the cost of rent. The last one is more to save face.
An argument in favor of the version of the necessary narrowing of Russian reconnaissance capabilities is also the fact that the Voronezh radar station in Armavir, which is being commissioned, is 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 claim 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 radius of the station in Armavir covers 2500 km, and Gabala - 8500 km ”, said WikiLeaks, citing Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev, who spoke openly about this on March 14, 2009 with US Ambassador to Baku Ann Derse.
From the dispatch of Ambassador Ders dated March 19 of this year. It can be seen that Moscow, after the announcement 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 contract in 2012. This indicated that the issue has always been in the stage of intensive bargaining between the US and the Russian Federation.
Erdogan's secret
The fate of the station was finally sealed on September 12, 2012, when the US National Research Council recommended that the White House and Congress abandon the fourth stage of the deployment of a missile defense system 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," the authors of the report, who are experts from among retired military leaders, scientists and former US administration officials, concluded.
The center of gravity of the fourth stage of missile defense, which is less expensive, experts recommended moving far to the East. NIS advised that, in addition to the sites of Fort Greeley in Alaska and Vandenberg in California, the establishment of another silo-based interceptor missile base in the continental United States. They propose to place another similar base in the northeastern part of the United States. The conclusion of the expert council meant that the Russians abandoned 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 an explanation that was not taken seriously about the suspension of the work 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 she was not satisfied with the rent.
From the text of the statement, it followed that on December 10, the Russian Foreign Ministry presented Azerbaijan with 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 for the use of the Gabala radar station" that lost its validity on December 9, 2012. The agreement on the lease of the radar station 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 background of the decision on the fate of the radar station lies far beyond the borders of Azerbaijan.
On September 11, 2012, the Second meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council was held in Gabala high level between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which ended with the signing of seven documents. In terms of their significance, they did not particularly correspond to the high status of the meeting: about metrology, television partnership, rescue services, seed production and others. The meeting was previously planned in Baku, but was unexpectedly moved to a place five steps away from the Gabala radar station. This meeting, which took place almost simultaneously with the release of the US National Research Council report on missile defense, was a symbolic message from Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that Russia's military era in Azerbaijan is over.
Analytical Service Turan
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 verification 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 to not only detect a rocket launch in a record a short time, but also from the first seconds of launch, track the missile trajectory 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 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.
Headcount service personnel- 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 (
Russia opposed the increase in the rent for the radar from the current $7.5 million to $300 million per year, which Azerbaijan insisted on; a more advanced radar of the Voronezh-DM type in Armavir is already being tested
Gabala radar station Photo: AzerTAc/ITAR-TASS
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 the radar coverage areas;
Tracking and measuring the coordinates of detected targets and jammers;
Calculation of movement parameters of tracked targets according to radar measurements;
Goal type definitions;
Issuance of 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 verification base;
Node of communication and information transfer.
Lead developer JSC RTI named after A.L. Mints, Moscow. Put into operation in 1983.
The radar controlled 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.
Radar type "Daryal" 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 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. 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 USSR State Prize.
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. Azerbaijan's conditions were 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.
Russia was interested in maintaining the previous cost of the lease, but at the same time wanted to drastically reduce the territories occupied by the station. The station was to be rebuilt. With its new look, a large amount of communication was not required. By 2020, it was planned to build a new generation radar station (of the Voronezh VP type) in its place.
Russia expected to complete the negotiations before 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 it got a much more modern radar station near Armavir. Such an opinion in a conversation with a correspondent 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 operation of this senseless object. This would be a gross mistake, ”the expert said. According to the interlocutor, the new radar station significantly outperforms the Gabala one in terms of functionality and efficiency, and its more northerly location plays no (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 of the Gabala radar station, Khramchikhin suggested that the loss of Gabala forced the Armavir radar station to be put into operation in a forced mode, which the Russian side would prefer to avoid . “In addition, perhaps Russia wanted to have two operating stations for some time. Let's not forget that the Gabala radar station also made it possible to bargain with the Americans,” said the deputy director of the Institute of 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 a lever of influence on Russia and decided to use it. It was his mistake, since there is no longer a lever, ”the expert concluded.
Finally a more or less sensible explanation
Gabala radar - officially called the radar station "Daryal", deployed in the village of Gabala (350 km west of Baku), not far from Ganja. Data on the number of personnel - fluctuate (from 1400 to 2000 people). Subordinated to the Space Forces of the Russian Federation and designed to detect ballistic and cruise missiles on flight paths, tracking and measuring the coordinates of detected targets and jammers, as well as calculating the movement parameters of tracked targets and determining their type.
The range of the radar is up to 6-7 thousand km.
Ground-based radars with greater target detection range, to the best of our knowledge, do not exist.
The decision to build the station was made in 1972 by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU - in connection with the US plans to deploy a nuclear submarine base in the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia Island).
In 1976 construction began. In 1983, the first radar units began to be launched. In 1984, the unit took up experimental duty. In February 1985, the station went on combat duty.
The Gabala station is facing outward (the territory of North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, as well as a significant part of the Indian Ocean) is under radar surveillance. The territory of Russia is not monitored by the station (again, we recall that the turning of the viewing sector of such radars outside when they are located near the borders of the country is a condition of the ABM Treaty).
The Gabala station is the only one that has experience in combat launches. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the radar recorded all 302 cruise missile launches without exception from American bombers, surface ships and nuclear submarines, including 15 cases of missing missiles on the trajectory and 30 cases of missiles being 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 ("Strong Freedom", 2001). Technical resource radar allows to ensure its continuous operation until 2012.
The agreement on the Russian lease of the radar station was signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on January 25, 2002 and has already been ratified by the parliaments of both countries. According to the agreement, the Gabala radar station is the property of Azerbaijan. Russia leases the radar until 2012, and without the consent of Baku, Moscow 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. The other has to do with the relationship between radar and warfare strategy.
What is the specificity of the old and new technological (and hence military, and hence political) era? The previous era - also known as the "era of mutually assured destruction" - is the entire aggregate system in which Gabala is inscribed.
The specificity of this consistency lies in the fact that Gabala (like the entire system of early warning of a missile attack - SPRN) was "sharpened" for the instantaneous detection of a missile attack on the USSR, which guarantees the leadership of the USSR the necessary time to make a decision on a retaliatory nuclear missile attack. hit.
The leadership, having decided on this strike, could thereby ensure the following.
First, guaranteed retribution. Which was of decisive importance.
Secondly, the suppression of certain radar capabilities that turn American missiles into blind ones already in the middle of a flight. This second possibility had no absolute significance. 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 protect themselves from our missiles either. That was the old era.
At that time, the missile defense system existed only around Moscow. And in this form it exists to this day. At that time, their missile defense system also protected only the area where their key strategic potential was based - silo ICBMs in North Dakota.
Gabala was focused on a nuclear attack by a super-powerful adversary (not some kind of Iran, but the United States, who decided to wage a nuclear war to completely destroy the USSR). And on the "strike of retaliation." All this is reflected in the technical solution. And all this is very different from what the Americans are now "kneading".
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 can be fired after the Americans launch the first strike), or is it a real strategy? Let those who are supposed to answer. In the official statements we have already cited by officials (that is, those who are "supposed to"), it was said that the Americans want to protect themselves from our "retaliation strike", and not Europe from Iran. Now officials may say otherwise. But this, as they say, is a matter of life.
Already today, the Americans want to chase every single missile that is aimed at the point they want to protect. They want to protect themselves. But precisely all of its territory. They say that they also want to protect Europe, NATO allies, all friendly countries and all progressive humanity.
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 within draft design in 1968, the Daryal radar, designed for high radiated power and having a huge antenna area, was supposed to be equipped with autonomous nuclear 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; air defense of the radar facility will be provided by Azerbaijan, modernization and installation of new air defense systems - Russian Federation. 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.
