Yeniseysk-15 was the site of a disputed

Soviet 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 ...

phased array radar A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs of the waveform being affected is typically modulated by an interna ...

near

Yeniseysk Yeniseysk ( rus, Енисейск, p=jɪnʲɪˈsʲejsk) is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. Population: 20,000 (1970). History Yeniseysk was founded in 1619 as a stockaded town—the first town on the Yenisei ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

, Siberia. The never operational

Daryal radar The Daryal-type radar () (NATO: Pechora) is a Soviet bistatic early-warning radar. It consists of two separate large active phased-array antennas separated by around to . The transmitter array is and the receiver is in size. The system is a ...

installation was demolished in 1989 after the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

claimed it was in breach of the

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, also known as the ABM Treaty or ABMT, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ball ...

Daryal radar

The radar being built at Yeniseysk was a Daryal-U (NATO codename "Pechora"), a large phased array radar consisting of two separate large phased-array antennas apart. The transmitter array was and the receiver was in size. The system is a VHF system operating at a

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

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 Pechora (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora (river), Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechor ...

and Gabala, were ever operational. Two other Daryal-U type were to be built at Balkhash and Mishelevka,

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, neither were completed before the collapse of the

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 ...

Location

The Soviet Union started a programme to replace all Dnepr (NATO: Hen House) radars with the intention that this would be complete by the mid 1990s and five Daryals were under construction by 1983. The early warning system had a gap as it did not cover submarine launches of

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

s in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. A radar site was needed that would face north east covering this area. The 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty placed restrictions on the location of early warning radars. Article VI b) states that the United States and the Soviet Union agree: :not to deploy in the future radars for early warning of strategic ballistic missile attack except at locations along the periphery of its national territory and oriented outward. Initially the manufacturers recommended two sites,

Norilsk Norilsk ( rus, Нори́льск, p=nɐˈrʲilʲsk) is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula, around 90 km east of the Yenisei, Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Norilsk is 300 ...

and

Yakutsk Yakutsk ( ) is the capital and largest city of Sakha, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of Russia's most rapidly growing regional cities, with a population of 355,443 at the ...

, both of which were compliant with the treaty. They were overruled by the Ministry of Defence on cost grounds and Yeniseysk was selected despite being from the border. It was believed that Yeniseysk, being inland, would provide the coverage of two radars further out. It is also closer to the Siberian industrial region which would make it cheaper as it has good railway and power infrastructure nearby.

Controversy

The Soviet Union announced that the new radar was for

space surveillance Space domain awareness is the study and monitoring of satellites orbiting the Earth. It involves the detection, tracking, cataloging and identification of artificial objects, i.e. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentatio ...

rather than for

early warning An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a Poset, chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, Detection theory, event detection and decision support system, decision subsystems for early identi ...

of missile attack, and hence was compliant with the ABM treaty. The radar was given the designation OS-3 (OS-1 was Mishelevka and OS-2 Balkhash) rather than an RO- designation which would be associated with an early warning site. However the radar appeared to be a Daryal radar which were used for ballistic missile early warning as well as space surveillance. The United States complained and construction was halted in 1987. In 1989 the Soviet Union admitted that it was a breach of the treaty and it was demolished.

References

{{Soviet Union–United States relations, state=collapsed Russian Space Forces Soviet military radars Soviet Union–United States relations Demolished buildings and structures in Russia Buildings and structures demolished in 1989