Pechora Radar Station ( rus, Печорская радиолокационная станция, Pechorskaya radiolokatsionnaya stantsiya) is an
early warning radar near
Pechora in the
Komi Republic, northern
Russia. It is a key part of the Russian early warning system against missile attack and was built by the
Soviet Union, becoming operational in 1984.
It is run by the
Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.
Daryal radar overview
Pechora is a
Daryal radar, a
bistatic passive electronically scanned array early warning radar consisting of two separate large
phased-array antennas separated by around to . The transmitter array is and the receiver is in size. The system is a
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
system operating at a
wavelength of 1.5 to 2 meters (150 to 200 MHz). The claimed range of a Daryal installation is .
Originally, at least seven Daryal facilities were planned, however, only the first two facilities completed, Pechora and
Gabala, were ever operational.
Two Daryal-U type were to be built at sites in
Balkhash and
Mishelevka,
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
; neither were completed. The US Clinton administration offered financial assistance in completing the Mishelevka facility in exchange for amending the ABM treaty to allow US deployment of a
national missile defense system.
Russia rejected this proposal and in 2002 the US unilaterally withdrew from the ABM treaty.
Two Daryal-UM systems were to be constructed in
Skrunda,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and
Mukachevo,
Ukraine. The Mukachevo one in Ukraine was never completed after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Skrunda facility was turned over to Latvia to be demolished.
The
Yeniseysk (
Krasnoyarsk) Daryal-U site caused concern in the west over compliance with the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty during its construction in the 1980s. Following years of negotiations, in September 1989 the Soviets admitted it was a violation of the treaty, construction ceased and the facility was eventually dismantled.
References
{{Ru missile attack
Russian Space Forces
Russian and Soviet military radars
Military installations of Russia
Military installations of the Soviet Union