The P-70 or "Lena-M" was a static 2D VHF

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

developed and operated by the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Development

The P-70 early warning radar started development in 1960 and was completed in 1968 when the radar completed state testing and was accepted into service. The purpose of the radar was to provide long-range early warning of aircraft over the vast territory of the Soviet Union in support of long-range missile batteries. The P-70 was developed by the SKB Design Bureau, a division of State Plant No. 197 named after V.I.Lenin, the predecessor of the current Nizhniy Novgorod Research Institute of Radio Engineering (NNIIRT). The P-70 had a production run of 11 radar units which were deployed to many different regions within the Soviet Union including

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, Kotlas,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and Rybachy Peninsula in the north-west, Kerch, the North-East Bank and

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in the south,

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and Russian Island in the east and Anadyr in the north-east.

Description

The P-70 radar was designed as a static structure mounted on a two-story building which housed the radar and power supply equipment as well as facilities for the radar operators. Additional support facilities could be operated up to 2 km from the radar building. The radar used a single large antenna accomplishing both

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

and reception with a surface area of 850 m² and with dimensions of 48 by 25 meters. The antenna was of the open-frame truncated parabolic variety and was scanned mechanically in azimuth using

hydraulics Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

. P-70 radars were dual-channel, with the antenna working in both horizontal and vertical

polarization Polarization or polarisation may refer to: Mathematics *Polarization of an Abelian variety, in the mathematics of complex manifolds *Polarization of an algebraic form, a technique for expressing a homogeneous polynomial in a simpler fashion by ...

. The radar was one of the first mass-produced radars to use

pulse compression Pulse compression is a signal processing technique commonly used by radar, sonar and Ultrasound, echography to either increase the range angular resolution, resolution when pulse length is constrained or increase the Signal-to-noise ratio, signal ...

. The use of these techniques gave the P-70 excellent resolution (by a factor of 10 compared with the P-14) at long range, as well providing protection against active and passive interference. The radar operated on two frequencies, 140 MHz to observe low-altitude targets (aircraft and missiles) and 70 MHz to observe high-altitude targets (satellites). The P-70 also used a fully coherent transmitter and an MTI system capable of compensating for wind and other forms of passive interference such as chaff. Overall, the P-70 managed to achieve a low false alarm rate.

Operators

The P-70 radar was operated by the Soviet Union from 1968. The radars were not exported and are believed to be no longer in operation. * - Passed to successor states.

Popular culture

Video games

* ''

Arma 3 ''Arma 3'' is an open world tactical shooter simulation video game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive exclusively through the Steam distribution platform. It is the third main entry in the ''Arma'' series, and the eighth installment ...

'', as a decorative object named "Radar Complex" release with Contact expansion July 25, 2019. Located on terrain Livonia at the old Swarog radar station, in-game coordinates 049-021. Can be placed manually in the game editor Eden Editor via two assets "Radar Complex (Antenna)" and "Radar Complex (Antenna Base)".

References

External links

NNIIRT
{{Soviet and Russian radars, state=expanded Soviet military radars Nizhny Novgorod Research Institute of Radio Engineering products Military equipment introduced in the 1960s