Hantsavichy Radar Station

Hantsavichy Radar Station (Russian: РЛС Ганцевичи, Belarusian: РЛС Ганцавічы) (also described as Gantsevichi[note 1]) is a 70M6 Volga-type[2] radar near Hantsavichy (48 km from Baranavichy in Belarus). It is an early warning radar, which is run by the Russian Space Forces.[3] It is designed to identify launches of ballistic missiles from western Europe and can also track some artificial satellites, partly replacing the demolished radar station at Skrunda in Latvia.

Hantsavichy Radar Station
Ганцавічы РЛС
Belarus
Volga radar at Hantsavichy
Hantsavichy Radar Station
Coordinates52°51′27″N 26°28′55″E
TypeRadar station
Site information
Controlled byRussian Space Forces
Open to
the public		No
ConditionOperational
Site history
Built1982 (1982)
Built bySoviet Union / Russia
In useSince 2003
Garrison information
Garrison474th independent Radio-Technical Unit [1]

History

The Volga was developed by NIIDAR from the Dunay-3U radar.[4] Construction started in 1982 to counter the installation of Pershing II missiles in West Germany which were only 6 to 8 minutes away in flight time.[5][6] These intermediate missiles were eliminated by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which was signed in December 1987.[5]

Work still continued on the radar even though the Pershing missiles had been removed. The radar was not compliant with the 1972 ABM treaty as this forbade multifunction radars. The Volga was in breach of this as it was designed to guide anti-ballistic missiles (an 'ABM radar') as well as acting as an early warning radar.[5][6] As the United States had managed to get the Daryal radar at Yeniseysk demolished for being in breach of the treaty the Soviet Union removed ABM radar abilities from the Volga as it was being built.[5][6]

Work on the radar stopped in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. It restarted in 1993 once it became apparent that Russia would lose the early warning station in Skrunda and with it coverage of missiles from the north west.[6] Some testing took place in 1994 and in 1995 a 25-year agreement was signed between Russia and Belarus giving Russia a 25-year lease on the ground and all buildings with no taxes and with no charge made for communication channels.[6] When the Dnestr-M radars in Skrunda were shut down in 1998 Russia restarted the construction of the Volga.[6] Test operations started in 1999 and pilot operations in 2002. It was finally commissioned on 1 October 2003.[7][8] The radar was upgraded in 2016.[9]

One of the manufacturers was quoted as saying that two other Volga installations were once planned - one at Komsomolsk-na-Amur and one at Sevastopol.[10][11] Another source says that a Volga was originally planned in Biysk in Altai Krai to provide coverage of China.[11]

Volga radar

The station, classed as a 'Volga' type, is similar to a Daryal radar but operates on the UHF band rather than the VHF of the Daryal. Like the Daryal it has a separate transmitter and receiver stations which in the case of the Volga are 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) apart.[12]:86

The radar has an Active Electronically Scanned Array, a type of phased array. It continuously radiates such that it is receiving and transmitting at the same time. The array consists of spiral radiators which rotate in different directions in the receiver and transmitter. The transmitter array is 36 by 20 metres (118 ft × 66 ft) and the receiver array is 36 by 36 metres (118 ft × 118 ft). Both arrays are surrounded by a ferrite frame which absorbs radio waves.[13][12]:86

The Volga has a range of around 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) and an azimuth of 120°, with elevation of 4° to 70°.[14][12]:86[13] Its GRAU index is 70M6 .

The site

The radar is 8 km north east of Hantavichy and 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Baranavichy. It is in the Hantsavichy Raion of the Brest Region of Belarus. The military town for the radar is called Kletsk-2 (Russian: Клецк-2).

CoordinatesAzimuth [7]TypeBuilt
52°49′59.95″N 26°28′31.83″E receiver
52°51′41.98″N 26°28′2.88″E transmitter		262.5°Volga1985–2002

When the station opened it was stated that up to 200 local Belarusians could be employed there.[10] In 2007 Kommersant estimated that 600 people worked at the station.[15]

Notes
  1. The names vary as the station is named after the nearby town of Hantsavichy but with different transliterations depending on whether we consider the name to be Russian or Belarusian. The character Г is a G in Russian and an H in Belarusian. Using the BGN/PCGN Romanisation standard the Belarusian name Га́нцавічы would be written as Hantsavichy and using Wikipedia's Russian Romanisation standard the Russian name Ганцевичи would be written as Gantsevichi

References
  1. Holm, Michael (2011). "474th independent Radio-Technical Unit". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  2. "70M6 Volga LPAR - Soviet BMD".
  3. "RF electricity cessation to Belarus not hamper Volga radar functioning" (PDF) (Press release). Itar-Tass. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  4. Bukharin, Oleg; Kadyshev, Timur; Miasnikov, Eugene; Podvig, Pavel; Sutyagin, Igor; Tarashenko, Maxim; Zhelezov, Boris (2001). Podvig, Pavel (ed.). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-16202-9.
  5. Davidenko, V. (July 2003). Белорусская российская "Волга" [Belarusian Russian Volga] (in Russian). Novosti Kosmonavtiki. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  6. Safronov, Ivan (December 2002). "CIS DEFENSE. VOLGA TO SHIELD RUSSIA FROM THE WEST: NEW RUSSIAN RADAR INSTALLATION PUT INTO OPERATION IN BELARUS". Defence & Security. Eastview. 148.
  7. Podvig, Pavel (2002). "History and the Current Status of the Russian Early-Warning System" (PDF). Science and Global Security. 10: 21–60. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.692.6127. doi:10.1080/08929880212328. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2012.
  8. "New radar station gives Russia "tight ring of all-round defence" – commander" (Press release). Itar-Tass. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  9. Podvig, Pavel (23 December 2016). "No gaps in early-warning coverage as three radars to begin combat duty in 2017". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. russianforces.org. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  10. Plugatarev, Igor (20 October 2003). Минск латает дыры в системе российской ПВО [Minsk patches holes in the Russian air defence system] (in Russian). ng.ru. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  11. Система предупреждения о ракетном нападении: "Волга" - РЛС [Warning system for missile attack: "Volga" - Radar Station] (in Russian). Army.lv. 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  12. Spassky, Nikolai, ed. (2002). Encyclopedia "Russia's Arms and Technologies. The XXI Century Encyclopedia": Volume 5 — "Space weapons" (in English and Russian). Moscow: Publishing House 'Arms and Technologies'. ISBN 978-5-93799-010-5.
  13. Evstropov, G. A.; Rogulyev, V. A.; Saprykin, S. D.; Sosulnikov, V. P.; Starostenkov, E. A. (September 2003). Experience of antenna complexes creation for the radars of distant detecting and space area monitoring. Fourth International Conference on Antenna Theory and Techniques. 1. Sevastopol, Ukraine: IEEE. pp. 47–51. doi:10.1109/ICATT.2003.1239148. ISBN 0-7803-7881-4.
  14. Радиолокационная станция 'Волга' [Radar Station 'Volga'] (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  15. Lukin, Mikhail (21 May 2007). Все Российские базы [All Russian Bases] (in Russian). Kommersant. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
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