At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is going to test an upgraded version of the Krona anti-satellite complex, the Izvestia newspaper reports, citing its own sources in the Russian General Staff. Work on the creation of this complex was started back in the USSR, but due to the suspension of funding, they were stopped. According to information contained in open sources, the "Krona" complex took up combat duty only in 2000 and consists of 2 main parts: a laser-optical locator and a radar station.
According to the plans of the Ministry of Defense, the timing and plans for testing the modernized anti-satellite defense complex "Krona" are scheduled for the end of 2013. It is reported that the main emphasis will be placed on the interaction of various components, especially strike weapons with a ground-based ROK - a radar-optical complex for the search and identification of space targets. It is reported that the radars of the complex, which still have the old Soviet index 45Ж6, were released in the 1980s, but during 2009-2010 they were modernized and passed state tests. According to the officers of the General Staff, they have no complaints about the ROK itself.
The radio-optical complex for recognition of space objects "Krona" is an object of the outer space control system, which includes 2 operating systems: radio-band and optical, is part of the Russian Space Defense Forces. This complex monitors outer space using observations in both active (laser ranging) and passive modes. After computer processing, the data obtained by him are sent to the Central Command and Control Center - Outer Space Control Center.
Radar 20Ж6 complex "Krona"
Work on the creation of the ROKR KO "Krona" was started in accordance with the decree of the government of the USSR of November 1984. The construction of the facility was carried out by Research Institute PP and OAO NPK NIIDAR. The beginning of work on its creation fell on the Soviet era, but the beginning of perestroika and the collapse of the country significantly slowed them down. In 1994, experimental work was carried out at the facility, and in 2000 the complex finally took up combat duty. In 2010, he underwent modernization, during which he received a high-precision radar channel "N", designed to determine the position and recognition of targets in the Earth's orbit.
The 45Ж6 "Krona" radar-optical complex for recognizing space objects is designed to recognize various military space objects, as well as information and ballistic support for anti-space defense actions and active means of antimissile defense of the country. The complex originally included:
- the radio-technical part of the 40Zh6 complex with the 20Zh6 radar, which has 2 main channels of operation: the "A" channel is intended for detecting artificial earth satellites and the "H" channel, which is intended for highly accurate angular measurements of the parameters of artificial earth satellites;
Radar 20Zh can operate in decimeter (channel "A") and centimeter (channel "H") ranges. The radar is able to detect a target 3500 km away.
Channel "A" - is a receiving and transmitting antenna array with an aperture of 20 × 20 m and electronic beam scanning, a phased antenna array (PAR). Channel "H" is a receiving and transmitting system consisting of 5 rotating parabolic antennas, which operate on the principle of an interferometer, due to which they make it possible to accurately measure the orbital elements of space objects.
- The optical means of the system consist of a laser-optical locator (LOL) "30Zh6" (since 2005), which includes: receiving and transmitting channels, a passive channel for autonomous detection (KAO) of space objects, which patrols for the purpose of search for previously unknown space objects.
- a command and computer center equipped with a 13K6 computer complex with a 40U6 computer (back in the days of the USSR).
object on Mount Chapal, photo:
The capabilities of the "Krona" complex for determining the coordinates of space objects made it possible to use it as a means of guidance for anti-space defense systems. In the USSR, it was planned to build 3 such complexes, which were supposed to cover the entire southern border of the country. The only operating complex is currently located on the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia on the top and in the vicinity of Mount Chapal.
The entire Krona ROC system operates with the interaction of all 3 channels: this is how the A channel of the radar finds a space object and measures its orbital characteristics, using which the H channel is aimed at a given point and performs its work. At the same time, the optical passive or active channel, which collects its information about the detected object, begins to operate according to the trajectory data of channel "A". As a result of such interaction, it is possible to significantly increase the accuracy and detail of information about the detected space object. At the same time, the throughput capacity of the entire complex is estimated at the level of about 30,000 objects per day.
Since the anti-satellite system was designed not only to detect space objects, but also to destroy them, it included the 30P6 Contact anti-satellite aviation complex, consisting of: the MiG-31D carrier aircraft and the 79M6 Contact interceptor missile, which had a kinetic combat part. Before its collapse, the Soviet defense industry was able to modernize 3 supersonic high-altitude interceptors MiG-31, which were entrusted with the task of delivering anti-satellite missiles to the upper atmosphere. Such aircraft received an additional letter "D" in the name. All 3 MiG-31D manufactured in the USSR in the early 1990s were sent to the Kazakh Sary-Shagan training ground, where they remained later. There is still no official data that tests of the 79M6 Kontakt missile-interceptor were carried out in the USSR.
MiG-31D
The new state first tried to use the MiG-31D fighters remaining on the territory of Kazakhstan for commercial purposes, trying to adapt them for launching small-sized space rockets. However, the Kazakh project ended in failure and at present these aircraft are simply dead. The revival of a large-scale anti-satellite defense project began only 18 years after the collapse of the USSR. In 2009, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Colonel-General Alexander Zelin, announced that the anti-space defense system based on the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor would be reanimated to solve the same problems.
If there is at least some information about the ground components of the Krona complex that can be easily found on the Internet, then its air component is much more classified. At present, it is only known that work on the creation of a new anti-satellite missile, which should replace the Contact, is being carried out by the Fakel Design Bureau located in Khimki near Moscow. The same design bureau specializes in the development of rocket and space technologies, but it refused to inform reporters about new products for Krona. Along with this, there is no information about the modernization of a new batch of MiG-31 supersonic fighter-interceptors, which will have to replace the aircraft lost in Kazakhstan. At the same time, Izvestia sources in the defense industry say that bringing the aircraft to the D modification does not pose any particular problems.
From such an aircraft, all the suspension and mounting assemblies are dismantled, the onboard radar, the radio-transparent cap is changed to a metal one. For a more stable flight with a vertical climb, special aerodynamic slugs, which are called "flippers", are installed at the ends of the wings of a fighter. They are also used to stabilize the flight of the MiG-31 with an anti-missile suspended under the fuselage, since it has a large mass and dimensions, and the wing area of the aircraft does not allow a stable flight with it. After that, a new communications complex and an aiming system are installed on the aircraft.
Outer Space Control Center
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation explained that in the upcoming tests they will check the possibility of issuing target designation to attack aircraft from the ground, as well as the interaction between the air and ground components of the Krona. At the same time, at the initial stage, instead of the MiG-31D, ordinary MiG-31s from the Russian Air Force will work. The editor of the MilitaryRussia website and military expert Dmitry Kornev believes that the algorithms and logic of combat work, ground equipment can be used and that which was created back in the 1980-1990s.
At the same time, the rocket will most likely require a new one, which will be created by the forces of the same design bureaus "Fakel", "Novator", "Vympel". At the same time, he did not rule out the reorientation of the entire system, for example, to ground-based missiles. In the event that the "Krona" will indeed be equipped with ground-based missiles, it becomes clear why the air component of the anti-satellite complex is so classified. In this case, it simply does not exist and never will.
