"Our rocket, one might say, will hit a fly in space."
This phrase belongs to the leader of the USSR, N. S. Khrushchev, who voiced it to journalists, after successful tests of an experimental complex of missile defense systems. It is as part of the anti-missile defense system of Moscow that the DON-2N Multifunctional Radar Station operates
The main task of the DON-2N radar is the detection of ballistic missiles, their tracking, measurement of coordinates, analysis of complex targets and the guidance of antimissiles.
02 In 1953, in connection with the emerging threat of a nuclear missile attack on the USSR, seven Marshals of the Soviet Union sent a letter to the CPSU Central Committee with a request to consider the issue of creating an anti-missile defense system. Three years of hard work of KB-1 scientists gave the necessary results, which ensured the adoption at the state level of a decision on the creation and testing of an experimental missile defense system.
03 Successful field tests of an experimental missile defense system in 1960 made it possible to make a decision to create a first-generation domestic missile defense system. In 1972, an ABM Treaty was signed with the United States. After completing the modifications and state tests, the missile defense system. ensuring the destruction of complex multi-element ballistic targets and low-orbit military spacecraft. was put into service and put on duty at the end of the 70s.
In parallel, work began on the creation of a new generation of missile defense systems.
04 Construction of the DON_2N radar began in 1978, and in 1989 the station was put into service.
05 Inside the station itself there is a "Room of the history of the military unit", where models of missile defense systems of both the first generation and the new are presented. Archival materials. how the missile defense system was created and developed, as well as the achievements of each military unit in peacetime.
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08 On the ceiling of a small museum, there is exactly a map of the starry sky of the northern hemisphere, it's a shame that the big bear is located right in the center of the column.
09 And what about the radar itself? During its construction, more than 30,000 tons of metal, 50,000 tons of concrete, 20,000 km of cable, several hundred kilometers of water pipes were used. The military themselves call it the eighth wonder of the world.
10 radar is built in such a way that in the event of a missile attack, it is capable of conducting combat operations in an autonomous mode, regardless of the external situation. This is ensured by independent power and water supply systems, powerful refrigeration equipment, repair units, as well as food and water supplies. For communication with the outside world, there is an underground transport tunnel, through which a couple of trucks can safely disperse.
11 The first of the command post halls. Everything is secret at the station, so all monitors are turned off.
12 Main hall. Maps and information about detected objects are projected onto the screens.
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14 Even while at the station, work is in progress. By the way, there is no danger for those who are inside the radar during its operation, because it radiates outward.
15 Satellite observation results are displayed on the screen.
16 One of the four radiating antennas of the station. Each antenna is directed to a specific side of the world.
17 Main characteristics of the radar:
- viewing area in azimuth - 360 degrees
- viewing area in elevation - 1-90 degrees
- detection range of space objects (size 5 cm) - up to 2000 km
- the number of simultaneously tracked targets - 100.
18 Separate blocks of a section. One of them, practically from the control panel, is assembled back into working position. The scale is, of course, impressive.
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21 Conveyor for placing and moving blocks.
22 And conveyor control panel
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26 Command post
27 Designed to control the apparatus and equipment of the station and monitor its condition. Around the clock, in real time, the combat crew is processing and analyzing information about the space and electronic situation in the radar's area of responsibility and control of the station's operation.
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29 Biological shield around the station. According to the military, they are more likely to calm environmentalists. The radiation does not in any way affect the station staff and the civilians living nearby.
30 The unusual shape of the radar.
31 Rocket at the entrance to the unit
32 And the container to transport it
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In 1994, an experiment was conducted with the United States to detect "space debris". Microsatellites were launched from the shuttle into open space - 6 metal spheres with a diameter of 5, 10 and 15 cm. 15-centimeter spheres were found by all the radars involved in the experiment. 10-centimeter spheres were seen by only 2 Russian and 1 American radar. DON-2N is the only station that has detected and built the trajectory of a 5-centimeter ball.
