Danube (radar station)

Back in the early 1950s, the military leadership of the USSR began to understand the need to create missile defense systems that could provide protection against ballistic missiles that appeared at that time. As part of the work on this project, in 1956, the first draft of the Soviet missile defense system was created, known as System A ^[1] .

The composition of this system included the Danube-2 ballistic missile detection station. The complex was deployed at the Sary-Shagan training ground by 1959.

The A-35 system and its improved version of the A-35M , created on the basis of the A system, included two early warning radio-technical units with the Danube-3 radar. This system was created in the Moscow region in the first half of the 1960s.

Danube 1

"Danube-1" - prototype continuous-wave radar. Tests took place in the Moscow region at the end of 1955 ^[2] .

Danube 2

“Danube-2” - a radar for detecting ballistic targets, which was part of the experimental ABM system “A”. Developed at NII-37 , chief designer - V.P. Sosulnikov. The station consisted of transmitting and receiving antennas spaced on the ground, receiving and transmitting equipment, a computer station, and auxiliary devices. The distance between the antennas was 1 km. The transmitter power is about 100 kW. The maximum target detection range was determined at 1200 km ^[2] .

August 6, 1958 - the country's first detection of the R-5 BR and its warhead at a distance exceeding 1000 km ^[2] .

March 4, 1961 - participation in the world's first interception of ballistic missiles as part of a missile defense system ^[2] .

Danube 3

Danube-3 - early warning radars (DO), which were part of the A-35 missile defense system. They are a further development of the Danube-2 station. As part of the A-35, two radio engineering units were built, consisting of two sector radars each.

The Danube-3M is the first station of the Danube-3 type (the chief designer is V. P. Sosulnikov, SKB-30). It was built near the Akulovo railway station in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region in the first half of the 1960s. In trial operation since 1968. Initially, it had the name “Danube-3” without the letter “M”. After significant modernization, it was adopted (1978) as part of the A-35M missile defense system under the designation “Danube-3M”.

The station consisted of receiving and transmitting complexes spaced 2.5 km apart. The transmission complex included two sector transmission stations combined in one building, with the technological equipment located in it, and directed in exactly opposite directions. The geometric dimensions of the antennas ( PAR ): length 200 m, height about 30 m. The transmit power of each station was about 3 MW. The viewing directions are north and south, with a slight deviation to the west and east, respectively. The receiving complex was two combined antennas made in the form of a separate structure (100 m X 100 m) located in a parallel plane with the antennas of the transmitting complex, and a building with equipment for processing the received signal. The computer center and the command post of the A-35 system were located in the same building.

The range of the station DO Danube-3M was 2500 km. The computing equipment located at the station analyzed the received radar information, automatically detected ballistic targets and, when the latter were detected, gave target designation and target distribution to the A-35 system firing systems. After the commissioning of the radio unit with the radar of the Danube-3U, information came from both stations simultaneously.

Danube-3U - A-35M missile defense early warning station. Chief Designer - A.N. Musatov. It was commissioned in 1978 along with the adoption of the A-35M system. It was built near the city of Chekhov in the south of the Moscow Region (object " Chekhov-7 ").

When developing and creating the station, the experience of designing and operating the Danube-3M station was taken into account, as well as a number of new technical solutions were applied, which were associated with significant technical progress in the field of electronics that has occurred over the years since the previous modification was developed. This allowed to increase the range and accuracy of the station, the reliability of its work. Structurally, the complex is similar to the Danube-3M system. The external differences were the changed design of the antennas (a different design of the PAR lens forming lens) and their location - unlike the combined and directed exactly the opposite Danube-3M antennas, at the new station they are spaced about 150 m and rotated several degrees. New and more compact apparatus and equipment allowed to significantly reduce the necessary volumes of technological premises. An automatic control system for the functioning and serviceability of the complex systems has been introduced.

In general, the station turned out to be quite successful in terms of its technical characteristics and operational qualities, and at the same time relatively inexpensive ^[3] . On the basis of the Danube-3U, it was planned to create a simplified station for the needs of missile defense or the Danube-3UP missile defense system , which represents half the base station (only one sector). Used a T-340A modular computer ^[4] . The radar was built as a pilot at the Sary-Shagan training ground. However, this project has not received further development.

NATO code for the Danube-3 radar Doghouse (lit. dog kennel ), and for the Danube-3U - Eng. Cathouse (lit. cat's house ). The Doghouse code name is probably associated with the appearance of the station, whose antenna planes resembled slopes of the roof of the house, and the Cathouse code name for a new similar Danube-3U station was linked to the name of the same type of object.

On May 8, 1989, a fire occurred on the Danube-3M radar ^[5] , which destroyed most of the equipment of the receiving station; computer center managed to defend from the fire. After that, the transmitting station continued to send radar signals for some time, creating the illusion of active functioning with a potential adversary. After the fire, the station was not restored due to both economic reasons and because of the commissioning of the Don-2N radar , which, together with the Danube-3U, constituted the maximum number of early warning stations within the country allowed under international treaties (WWS). Currently, the antennas and equipment of the transmission complex have been dismantled, the structure in which the equipment was located has been partially destroyed and abandoned. The antenna of the receiving complex has been dismantled, the facilities of the receiving complex are partially used in the interests of maintaining the functioning of the SPRN data transmission system.

On the Danube-3U radar in 2003, work began on modernization ^{[3] [6]} .

The A-35M system was withdrawn from service in the mid-1980s ^[7] . It was replaced by the A-135 system using the Don-2N radar.

• 10 years have passed since the commissioning (1968) of the first Danube-3M station until it was put into service (1978) - exactly the same as from the moment it was put into service until the active life ceased as a result of the fire (1988).
• The huge antenna canvases of the Danube-3M receiving part towered above the forest and were clearly visible from passing electric trains, as well as from cars following the Kubinsky highway in the area of ​​the railway crossing. For the peculiar appearance and magnificent size, the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements called the radar a "space hut."