Aerospace Defense Forces. Russian Aerospace Forces USSR Missile Attack Warning System

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By the end of the twentieth century, Russia had the A-135 zonal strategic missile defense system and anti-aircraft missile systems of various modifications, which had certain capabilities for implementing missile defense. The decision to create a unified aerospace defense system (ASD) in Russia, adopted in 1993 and formalized by presidential decree, turned out to be unrealized. Moreover, in 1997, the country's Air Defense Forces, which were the prototype of the Aerospace Defense Forces, were disbanded, which significantly complicated the creation of the country's aerospace defense system in the future. This situation was not corrected by the subsequent transfer of missile and space defense troops from the Strategic Missile Forces to the newly created Space Forces in 2001.

Only after the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty in June 2002 did the military-political leadership of Russia realize the need to return to the issue of creating an aerospace defense system in the country. On April 5, 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the “Concept of Aerospace Defense of the Russian Federation until 2016 and beyond.” This document defined the purpose, directions and priorities for creating the country's aerospace defense system. However, as often happens in Russia, the period from the adoption of a conceptual decision to the implementation of concrete steps for its implementation took a long time. By and large, until the spring of 2010, the issues of creating the country’s aerospace defense system did not find real implementation in military development plans.

PULLING A BLANKET…

The Ministry of Defense began to carry out the task of creating the country’s aerospace defense system only after the President of Russia approved the “Concept for the construction and development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the period until 2020” on April 19, 2010. In it, as part of the formation of a new image of the Russian Armed Forces, the creation of the country's aerospace defense system was identified as one of the main measures of military development. However, apparently, the practical implementation of this decision was delayed. This is precisely what can explain the intervention of the President, who, speaking in the Kremlin at the end of November 2010 with his next Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, set the Ministry of Defense the task of unifying the existing systems of air and missile defense, missile attack warning and space control under the auspices of the created strategic command IN TO. But even after these presidential instructions, the discussion in the Ministry of Defense did not stop regarding the shape of the future aerospace defense system. The Air Force Commander-in-Chief and the Space Forces Command were each pulling the wool over their shoulders. The Academy of Military Sciences and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not stand aside.

On March 26, 2011, a general reporting and election meeting of the Academy of Military Sciences was held with the participation of the heads of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and other central military command and control bodies. At this meeting, along with summing up the work of the Academy for 2005–2010, current issues of military development at the present stage were considered. Giving a report, the President of the Academy, Army General Makhmut Gareev, spoke about the need to create the country’s aerospace defense as follows: “With the modern nature of armed struggle, its center of gravity and main efforts are transferred to aerospace. The leading states of the world are placing their main emphasis on gaining dominance in the air and space by conducting massive aerospace operations at the very beginning of the war, striking strategic and vital targets throughout the interior of the country. This requires solving the problems of aerospace defense by the combined efforts of all branches of the Armed Forces and centralizing control on the scale of the Armed Forces under the leadership of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and not recreating a separate branch of the Armed Forces.”

In turn, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Army General Nikolai Makarov, in his speech to the participants of this meeting, outlined the conceptual approaches of the Russian General Staff to the creation of the country's aerospace defense system. He said: “We have a concept for creating aerospace defense until 2020. It describes what, when and how to do. We have no right to make a mistake in this most important issue for the country and the state. Therefore, some positions of the concept are now being revised. The governing body of the Aerospace Defense Region is formed under the General Staff, and it will also be managed by the General Staff. It must be understood that the Space Forces are only one element in the aerospace defense system, which must be multi-layered in heights and ranges, integrating existing forces and assets. Right now there are very few of them. We are counting on the production of products by the defense-industrial complex, which will begin literally next year.”

Thus, it can be stated that at that time the developments of the Academy of Military Sciences and the General Staff regarding the basic principles of building the country’s aerospace defense completely coincided. It seemed that the only thing left was to formalize these developments by an appropriate presidential decree, and after that it would be possible to begin creating the country’s aerospace defense system. However, the situation began to develop in a completely different scenario. Unexpectedly for the Russian expert community and for reasons unknown to it, the General Staff suddenly abandoned those approaches to the formation of the governing body of the country's aerospace defense, which were promulgated by Army General Makarov in March 2011. And, as a consequence of this, at a meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense held in April 2011, a decision was made to create the Aerospace Defense Forces on the basis of the Space Forces.

A NEW BRANCH OF ARMY...

The decision taken by the Board of the Ministry of Defense, which was in many ways fateful for the matter of military development, was quickly implemented by the corresponding presidential decree of Dmitry Medvedev, issued in May 2011. This was done contrary to the generally accepted logic of military development in Russia - first, the issue of creating the country’s aerospace defense system had to be considered at a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation with the adoption of an appropriate decision, and only then this decision was formalized by a presidential decree. After all, the creation of an aerospace defense system is not a purely departmental matter of the Ministry of Defense, but a national task. And accordingly, the approach to solving this problem must be adequate to its significance and complexity. But, unfortunately, this did not happen.

On November 8, 2011, Dmitry Medvedev, who was serving as president, issued a decree on the appointment of senior staff of the Aerospace Defense Forces to positions of leadership. As expected, Lieutenant General Oleg Ostapenko was appointed commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces and was relieved of his post as commander of the abolished Space Forces.

The structure of the new branch of the Armed Forces, the Aerospace Defense Forces, formed on December 1, 2011, includes the command of the Aerospace Defense Forces itself, as well as the space command and the air defense and missile defense command.

According to available information, the Aerospace Defense Forces included:
– 1st State Test Cosmodrome “Plesetsk” (ZATO Mirny, Arkhangelsk Region) with the 45th separate scientific testing station (Kura test site in Kamchatka);
– Main Test Space Center named after G.S. Titova (ZATO Krasnoznamensk, Moscow region);
– Main missile attack warning center (Solnechnogorsk, Moscow region);
– Main center for space reconnaissance (Noginsk-9, Moscow region);
– 9th Missile Defense Division (Sofrino-1, Moscow Region);
– three air defense brigades (transferred from the disbanded Operational-Strategic Command of the Aerospace Defense Forces, which was part of the Air Force);
– support, security, special troops and logistics units;
– Military Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaisky" (St. Petersburg) with branches;
– Military Space Cadet Corps (St. Petersburg).

According to modern views of Russian military science, aerospace defense as a complex of national and military activities, operations and combat actions of troops (forces and means) is organized and carried out in order to warn about an aerospace attack by the enemy, repulse it and defend the country’s facilities, armed groups forces and population from air and space strikes. At the same time, aerospace attack means (ASAS) are usually understood as a set of aerodynamic, aeroballistic, ballistic and space aircraft operating from the ground (sea), from the airspace, from space and through space.

To carry out the tasks arising from the above goals of aerospace defense, the created Aerospace Defense Forces now have a missile attack warning system (SPRN), a space control system (SCCS), an A-135 zonal strategic missile defense system and anti-aircraft missile systems in service air defense brigades.

What are these forces and means and what tasks can they solve?

MISSILE ATTACK WARNING SYSTEM…

The Russian early warning system, like the similar American early warning system, consists of two interconnected echelons: space and ground. The main purpose of the space echelon is to detect the fact of the launch of ballistic missiles, and the ground echelon - upon receiving information from the space echelon (or independently) to provide continuous tracking of launched ballistic missiles and warheads separated from them, determining not only the parameters of their trajectory, but also the area of ​​impact accurate to tens of kilometers.

The space echelon includes an orbital group of specialized spacecraft, on the platform of which are mounted sensors capable of detecting the launch of ballistic missiles, and equipment that registers information received from the sensors and relays it through space communication channels to ground control points. These spacecraft are placed in highly elliptical and geostationary orbits so that they can constantly monitor all missile hazardous areas (RH) on the surface of the Earth - both on land and in the oceans. However, the space echelon of the Russian early warning system does not have such capabilities today. Its existing orbital constellation (three spacecraft, one of them in a highly elliptical orbit and two in a geostationary orbit) carries out only limited ROR control with significant time interruptions.

In order to increase the capabilities of the space echelon of early warning systems and increase the reliability and efficiency of the combat command and control system of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, a decision was made to create a Unified Space Detection and Combat Command System (USS). It will include new generation spacecraft and modernized command posts. According to Russian experts, after the adoption of the EKS for service, the Russian early warning system will be able to detect the launches of not only ICBMs and SLBMs, but also any other ballistic missiles, no matter where they are launched. Data on the timing of the creation of the CEN are not published. It is possible that this system will be able to fulfill its tasks no later than 2020, since by this time, as Army General Makarov said, the creation of a full-fledged aerospace defense system in Russia will be completed.

The ground echelon of the Russian early warning system currently includes seven separate radio technical units (ortu) with over-the-horizon radar stations (radar) of the Dnepr, Daryal, Volga and Voronezh types. The detection range of ballistic targets by these radars ranges from 4 to 6 thousand km.

There are four ortu located on the territory of the Russian Federation: in Olenegorsk in the Murmansk region, in Pechora in the Komi Republic, in the villages of Mishelevka in the Irkutsk region and Lekhtusi in the Leningrad region. The first and third of them are equipped with the rather outdated Dnepr-M radar, the second with the more modern Daryal radar, and the fourth with the new Voronezh-M radar. Three more ortu are located in Kazakhstan (Gulshad settlement), Azerbaijan (Gabala settlement) and Belarus (Gantsevichi settlement). The first of them is equipped with the Dnepr-M radar, the second with the Daryal radar, and the third with a fairly modern Volga radar. These ortu are maintained by Russian military specialists, but only the ortu in Belarus is Russian property, and the Russian Ministry of Defense leases the other two from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, paying monetary compensation for this in the amount established by intergovernmental agreements. It is known that the lease agreement for Ortu in Gabala ends in 2012, but the issue of prolonging this agreement has not been resolved. The Azerbaijani side is setting lease conditions that are unacceptable to Russia. Therefore, most likely the Russian side will refuse to lease the Ortu in Gabala at the end of 2012.

Until recently, the ground echelon of the Russian early warning system also included two ortas with the Dnepr radar in Ukraine (in the cities of Mukachevo and Sevastopol). These ortu were serviced by Ukrainian civilian personnel, and the Russian Ministry of Defense, in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement, paid for the information they supplied. Due to the significant deterioration of the equipment of the Ukrainian orta (no funds were invested in their modernization) and, as a consequence, a decrease in the quality of the information they supplied, Russia terminated the agreement with Ukraine in February 2008. At the same time, a decision was made to build a new Voronezh-DM radar near the city of Armavir in the Krasnodar Territory in order to close the resulting “gap” in the radar field of the Russian early warning system due to the exclusion of Ukrainian radars from it. Today, the construction of this radar is almost completed, it is in trial operation, the expected date for its deployment on combat duty is the second half of 2012. By the way, in terms of its capabilities, this radar is capable of compensating for the exclusion of the radar in Gabala from the contour of the ground echelon of the Russian early warning system.

Currently, this echelon provides ROR control with a break in the continuous radar field in the northeast direction. Increasing its capabilities is envisaged through the construction of new Voronezh-type radars along the perimeter of the borders of the Russian Federation with a refusal in the future to lease foreign ortas. Work is already underway on the construction of the Voronezh-M radar in the Irkutsk region.

At the end of November 2011, the Voronezh-DM radar was put into trial operation (put on trial combat duty) in the Kaliningrad region. It will take about another year to put this radar on combat duty. As for the radar station being built in the Irkutsk region, its first stage was put into trial operation in May 2012. It is expected that this radar will begin to operate in full force in 2013, and then the existing “gap” in the radar field in the northeast direction will be eliminated.

SPACE CONTROL SYSTEM…

The Russian SKKP currently has two information-measuring ortas. One of them, equipped with the Krona radio-optical complex, is located in the village of Zelenchukskaya, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, and the other, equipped with the Okno optical-electronic complex, is in Tajikistan, near the city of Nurek. Moreover, according to the agreement concluded between Russia and Tajikistan, the orta with the Okno complex is the property of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

In addition, to detect and track space objects, the radio engineering complex for monitoring spacecraft “Moment” in the Moscow region and astronomical observatories of the Russian Academy of Sciences are used.

Russian SKKP assets provide control of space objects in the following areas:

– for low- and high-orbit objects – at altitudes from 120 to 3500 km, at the inclinations of their orbits – from 30 to 150 degrees relative to the earth’s axis;

– for objects located in geostationary orbits – at altitudes from 35 to 40 thousand km, with longitude points from 35 to 105 degrees east longitude.

It should be recognized that the technical capabilities of the current Russian SKKP for monitoring space objects are limited. It does not observe outer space in the altitude range of more than 3500 km and less than 35 thousand km. In order to eliminate this and other “gaps” in the Russian SKKP, as reported by the official representative of the press service and information department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the Aerospace Defense Forces, Colonel Alexey Zolotukhin, “work has begun to create new optical, radio engineering and radar specialized means of control of outer space." It is possible that the deadlines for completing these and other works and adopting new means of space control will not go beyond 2020.

MOSCOW MISSILE DEFENSE…

It is appropriate to note here that Russian early warning systems and early warning systems, just like similar American systems, are interconnected and form a single reconnaissance and information field for controlling aerospace space. In addition, the radar systems of the A-135 missile defense system, which have a detection range of ballistic targets of 6 thousand km, also participate in the formation of this field. This achieves a synergistic effect, which provides a more effective solution to the tasks assigned to each of the above systems separately.

The Russian A-135 missile defense system is deployed around Moscow in an area limited by a radius of 150 km. It includes the following structural elements:
– a missile defense command and measurement station, equipped with a command and computing complex based on high-speed computers;
– two sector radars “Danube-3U” and “Danube-3M” (the latter is presumably under restoration), which provide detection of attacking ballistic targets and provide preliminary target designations to the missile defense command and measurement point;
– multifunctional radar “Don-2N”, which, using preliminary target designations, ensures acquisition, tracking of ballistic targets and guidance of anti-missile missiles at them;
– silo launch positions for short-range interceptor missiles 53Т6 (“Gazelle”) and long-range interceptor missiles 51Т6 (“Gorgon”).

All these structural elements are combined into a single whole by a data transmission and communication system.

The combat operation of the A-135 missile defense system, after it is activated by the combat crew, is carried out in a fully automated mode, without any intervention from maintenance personnel. This is due to the extremely high transience of the processes occurring when repelling a missile attack.

Currently, the capabilities of the A-135 missile defense system to repel a missile attack are very modest. The 51T6 anti-missile missiles have been taken out of service, and the service life of the 53T6 anti-missile missiles is beyond the warranty period (these missiles are located in silo launchers without special warheads, which are stored). According to expert estimates, after being brought to full readiness, the A-135 missile defense system is capable of destroying, at best, several dozen warheads attacking the defended area.

After the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, the Russian military-political leadership decided to deeply modernize all structural elements of the A-135 missile defense system, but this decision is being implemented extremely slowly: the lag behind the planned deadlines is five or more years. At the same time, it should be noted that even after all modernization work has been completed in full, the A-135 missile defense system will not take on the appearance of a strategic missile defense system for the country’s territory; it will remain a zonal anti-missile system, albeit with expanded combat capabilities.

AIR DEFENSE OF THE CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL REGION...

In the three air defense brigades transferred from the Air Force, covering the Central Industrial Region, there are a total of 12 anti-aircraft missile regiments (32 divisions), armed overwhelmingly with the S-300 mobile anti-aircraft missile system (ZRS) of three modifications. Only two anti-aircraft missile regiments of two divisions are armed with the new generation S-400 mobile air defense system.

The S-300PS, S-300PM, S-300PMU (Favorit) and S-400 (Triumph) air defense systems are designed to protect the most important political, administrative, economic and military facilities from air strikes, cruise and aeroballistic missiles of the " Tomahok", ALKM, SREM, ASALM and short, shorter and medium range ballistic missiles. These air defense systems provide an autonomous solution to the problem of warning about air attack attacks and hitting aerodynamic targets at ranges up to 200–250 km and altitudes from 10 m to 27 km, and ballistic targets at ranges up to 40–60 km and altitudes from 2 to 27 km .

The obsolete S-300PS air defense system, which was put into service in 1982 and the supply of which to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was stopped in 1994, is subject to replacement, and the S-300PM air defense system, which was put into service in 1993, is subject to modernization under the “Favorite” program to level S-300PMU.

The State Armament Program of the Russian Federation for 2007–2015 (GPV-2015) planned the purchase of 18 divisional sets of S-400 air defense systems. However, in 2007–2010, the Almaz-Antey air defense concern supplied the Russian Air Force with only four divisional sets of S-400 air defense systems, and this despite the fact that there were no supplies of this anti-aircraft missile system abroad. It is obvious that the state program for the purchase of S-400 air defense systems adopted in 2007 was a failure. This negative trend did not change even after the approval of the new State Armament Program of the Russian Federation for 2011–2020 (GPV-2020). According to the plan, in 2011 the Russian Air Force was supposed to receive two regimental sets of S-400 air defense systems, but this did not happen. As stated by First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexander Sukhorukov, “the delivery dates for these weapons are being shifted to 2012 due to the late conclusion of contracts.”

GPV-2020, in terms of the supply of S-400 air defense systems to troops, the development of promising anti-aircraft missile systems and their adoption into service, is much more intense than GPV-2015. Thus, by 2015, it is planned to supply nine regimental sets of S-400 air defense systems to the troops, bringing the 40N6 long-range anti-aircraft guided missile (SAM) to condition. In 2013, it is necessary to complete the development work on the Vityaz air defense system project, which began in 2007, by conducting state tests (in order to put this anti-aircraft missile system into service no later than 2014). In 2015, the development of the new generation S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, which began in 2011, should be completed.

To implement such a large-scale program, it will be necessary not only to establish proper order with the conclusion of contracts for the development and supply of weapons and to ensure rhythmic and complete financing for them, but also to solve the extremely difficult task of modernizing and increasing the production capacity of enterprises of the military-industrial complex. In particular, as Alexander Sukhorukov said, “two new factories will have to be built for the production of S-400 systems, which will be in demand in the future, including for the production of S-500 systems.” However, the confusion that arose in Russia in 2011 with the state defense order (GOZ), and doomed it to non-fulfillment of the main range of weapons, as well as the serious problems that arose with the 2012 state defense order, give rise to great doubt in the implementation of the planned plans for the GPV-2020.

The government of the Russian Federation will require enormous efforts to take extraordinary measures to rectify the emerging negative situation with the development and production of high-tech and knowledge-intensive weapons. Otherwise, it may turn out that the Aerospace Defense Forces will be created, but the tasks assigned to them due to the lack of necessary weapons systems will not be able to be completed.

Along with the problem associated with equipping the Aerospace Defense Forces with modern weapons, it will be necessary to resolve another equally important and complex problem caused by the need to create a unified combat information and control system of the Aerospace Defense and integrate all available heterogeneous means into a single reconnaissance and information field for controlling aerospace space surveillance and target designation.

Currently, the information and control system, which was inherited by the Aerospace Defense Forces from the abolished Space Forces, is not associated with a similar Air Force system, which includes nine aerospace defense brigades and fighter aircraft designed to perform air defense missions. There is also no clarity regarding military air defense/missile defense, which is subordinate to the command of military districts. Its information and control system is now completely autonomous. In order to combine the capabilities of these systems to solve a single task - the defense of the country, armed forces groups and the population from air and space strikes - it will be necessary to solve a very complex technical problem.

The same order of complexity will need to be overcome when solving the problem of interfacing the reconnaissance and information means of the space command and the air and missile defense command of the created Aerospace Defense Forces, since now these means do not form a single field of control of aerospace space. This situation excludes the possibility of using strike means to intercept ballistic targets using external sources of target designation, as is the case in the American global missile defense system, which significantly narrows the combat capabilities of the aerospace defense system created in Russia.

TO THE NEW LOOK OF EKO IS A HUGE DISTANCE...

In order for the country's aerospace defense system to acquire the appearance conceived by the Russian Ministry of Defense, it will be necessary to invest enormous financial and human resources. But will these investments be justified?

As Alexei Arbatov, head of the Center for International Security at IMEMO RAS, rightly noted, “massive non-nuclear air and missile attacks on Russia are an extremely unlikely scenario. There are no arguments in its favor, other than the mechanical transfer to Russia of the experience of recent local wars in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. And no aerospace defense will protect Russia from American nuclear strikes (just as no missile defense system will protect America from Russian nuclear missile weapons). But then Russia will have neither money nor technical capabilities left to repel real threats and challenges in the foreseeable decades.”

Common sense dictates that priority tasks in the field of aerospace defense should be identified, on the solution of which the main efforts of the state should be concentrated. Russia has and will have a completely credible nuclear deterrent, which serves as an “insurance policy” against direct military threats on a large scale. Hence the task of the first stage is to provide air defense and missile defense cover for Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.

The task of the second stage is to improve and build up the air defense and missile defense of the Armed Forces groupings, which are intended to operate in possible theaters of operations. That is, it is necessary to develop military air defense/missile defense, since Russia’s participation in local military conflicts like the “five-day war in the Caucasus” in 2008 cannot be ruled out.

And thirdly, given the remaining resources, efforts should be aimed at air defense and missile defense of other important state facilities, such as administrative and political centers, large industrial enterprises and vital infrastructure.

It is irrational to strive to create continuous air defense and missile defense for the entire territory of Russia, and it is unlikely that such aerospace defense can ever be created. The proposed ranking in solving problems will make it possible, at an acceptable cost of resources, to create in Russia in the foreseeable future an aerospace defense system, which, together with the potential of nuclear deterrence, will be able to fulfill its main purpose - to prevent large-scale aggression against the Russian Federation and its allies and to provide reliable cover for the Armed Forces groupings on TVD.

Viktor Ivanovich Esin

retired colonel general, candidate of military sciences, professor at the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation.

http://nvo.ng.ru/

http://topwar.ru/

On October 4, Russia celebrates Space Forces Day. The holiday is timed to coincide with the launch day of the first artificial Earth satellite PS-1 (Simple Satellite-1). It was launched into orbit on October 4, 1957 by an R-7 launch vehicle from the 5th research site of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which later became known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The spacecraft was a ball with a diameter of 58 centimeters, weighed 83.6 kilograms, and was equipped with four whip antennas 2.4 and 2.9 meters long. The successful launch of the world's first satellite became a revelation in the annals of astronautics, including military ones.

Emblem of the Aerospace Defense Forces. Photo: ommons.wikimedia.org

AiF.ru talks about what the space forces do, their composition and the history of their origin.

Tasks

Space Forces are a branch of the military within the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation. Their main tasks are:

• a warning to the country's top military-political leadership about a missile attack;
• missile defense of the city of Moscow;
• control of outer space;
• creation, deployment, maintenance of the domestic orbital constellation and control of spacecraft for military, dual, socio-economic and scientific purposes.

Composition of the space forces:

• Space Forces Command;
• Main missile attack warning center;
• Main center for space reconnaissance;
• Directorate for the Introduction of New Systems and Complexes of the Space Forces;
• Missile defense formations;
• Main Test Center named after German Titov;
• State test cosmodrome Plesetsk.

The number of personnel of the Aerospace Defense Forces of the Russian Federation is 165,000 people.

Orbital constellation

As of September 2015, the Russian orbital satellite constellation is the second in the world and consists of 149 devices. Together with orbital constellations of the CIS countries - 167 devices.

For comparison, the largest orbital constellation is owned by the United States, which owns 446 artificial satellites. In third place is China with 120+ satellites. India maintains 40+ operational Earth imaging satellites in polar orbits.

Pilots during an exercise to test the combat readiness of the Aerospace Defense Forces, the 1st Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Western Military District at the Baltimore airfield in Voronezh. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Utkin

Names

• Central Directorate of Space Facilities (TSUKOS) of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) (1964-1970),
• Main Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) (1970-1981),
• Main Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (1981-1986),
• Office of the Chief of Space Facilities (UNKS) of the USSR Ministry of Defense (1986-1992),
• Military Space Forces (VKS) (1992-1997),
• as part of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) (1997-2001),
• Space Forces (SF) (2001-2011),
• Aerospace Defense Forces (VVKO) (from December 1, 2011 - August 1, 2015),
• Space Forces (HF) of the Aerospace Forces (since August 1, 2015).

Major General, Commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO) Alexander Golovko. Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Klimentyev

Commanders

1964-1965 — K.A.-A. Kerimov
1965-1979 — A. G. Karas
1979-1989 — A. A. Maksimov
1989-1996 — V. L. Ivanov
2001-2004 — A. N. Perminov
2004-2008 — V. A. Popovkin
2008-2011 — O. N. Ostapenko
2012 — V. M. Ivanov- acting temporarily
from December 2012 — A. V. Golovko

Educational establishments

The training of officers for the space forces is carried out by:

• Military Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaisky,
• Military Academy of Aerospace Defense named after Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov.

Story

The first space units were formed in 1955 as part of the artillery of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK), when by decree of the USSR Government it was decided to build a research site.

In 1964, to centralize work on the creation of new assets, as well as to quickly resolve issues of using space assets, the Central Directorate of Space Assets (TSUKOS) of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) was created. In 1970, it was reorganized into the Main Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) of the Strategic Missile Forces.

In 1986, GUKOS was transformed into the Office of the Chief of Space Facilities of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

Military personnel of the Aerospace Defense Forces greet Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during the parade dedicated to the 68th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War on Red Square. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vladimir Ostapkovich

In 1992, the Office of the Chief of Space Facilities was transformed into a branch of centrally subordinate forces - the Military Space Forces (VKS).

In 1997, the Military Space Forces, in order to increase the efficiency of command and control and save the defense budget, were included in the Strategic Missile Forces.

In connection with the increasing role of space assets in the system of military and national security of Russia, a presidential decree in 2001 created an independent branch of the force - the Space Forces - on the basis of formations, formations and launch and missile launch units allocated from the Strategic Missile Forces. At the same time, it was taken into account that space forces and means, forces and means of the RKO have a single sphere of problem solving - space, as well as close cooperation of industrial enterprises, ensuring the creation and development of weapons.

In accordance with the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, from December 1, 2011, a new branch of the military was created in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - the Aerospace Defense Forces (VVKO).

The Aerospace Defense Forces are formed on the basis of formations and military units of the Space Forces, as well as troops of the operational strategic command of the aerospace defense of the Air Force.

The creation of the Aerospace Defense Forces was dictated by the objective need to combine forces and assets responsible for ensuring the security of Russia in and from space with military formations responsible for the country's air defense (air defense) in order to create a unified aerospace defense system.

The first units and institutions for launching and controlling spacecraft (SV) began to be created in our country in 1955 with the decision to build a test site for intercontinental ballistic missiles in Kazakhstan (now the Baikonur Cosmodrome).

In connection with preparations for the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in 1957, a Command and Measurement Complex for spacecraft control was created. In the same year, construction began in the Arkhangelsk region of a test site intended for launches of R-7 intercontinental ballistic missiles (now the Plesetsk cosmodrome).
On October 4, 1957, the launch and control units of the spacecraft carried out the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite “PS-1”, and on April 12, 1961, the launch and control of the flight of the world’s first manned spacecraft “Vostok” with cosmonaut Yu.A. Gagarin. Subsequently, all domestic and international space programs were carried out with the participation of associations, formations and units of spacecraft launch and control.

To organize the management of space activities in 1960, the 3rd Directorate of the Main Directorate of Missile Weapons was formed in the USSR Ministry of Defense, which in 1964 was transformed into the Central Directorate of Space Facilities (TSUKOS) of the Ministry of Defense, and in 1970 - into the Main Directorate Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1982, GUKOS and the units subordinate to it were withdrawn from the Strategic Missile Forces and subordinated directly to the USSR Minister of Defense - the Directorate of the Chief of Space Facilities of the Ministry of Defense was created.

In August 1992, the Military Space Forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were created, which included the Baikonur, Plesetsk cosmodromes and, since 1994, the Svobodny cosmodrome, as well as the Main Test Center for Testing and Control of Space Facilities (GITSIU KS), the Military Engineering Space Academy and 50th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Since 1957, spacecraft launch and control units and institutions have provided the launch and flight control of more than 3,000 spacecraft, carry out tasks to ensure national security in the space sector, and take part in the implementation of all joint international manned projects and projects for fundamental research of deep space. In close cooperation with a wide cooperation of scientific and industrial organizations, flight tests of more than 250 types of spacecraft for military, socio-economic and scientific purposes were carried out.

Manned flights, exploration of the Moon, Mars, Venus, complex experiments in outer space, the launch of an unmanned spacecraft of the reusable orbital complex "Buran", the creation of an international space station - this is not a complete list of achievements of domestic cosmonautics, to which military formations for space purposes made a significant contribution.

At the same time, the combat path of “space in uniform” was not limited to launches and control of spacecraft. With the beginning of the era of space exploration, the need arose to monitor the launches of potential enemy missiles and space objects, control their movement, assess their condition, and warn about possible emergency situations in space. There was a threat of the enemy using weapons from space. Therefore, in the early 1960s. The first samples of missile attack warning systems (MAW), space control systems (SSC), and missile defense systems (ABM) began to be created.

The most productive period in the history of domestic military space activity was the period of the 1970s–1980s, when scientific, technical and production groundwork was laid in rocket and space technology for decades to come, which is still being implemented today. Space warning, reconnaissance, communications, and navigation systems were created and put into service. The orbital group became permanently operational and began to be actively used in the interests of solving problems and ensuring the daily activities of the Armed Forces. PRN and missile defense systems were put on combat duty.

All these and many other domestic and international space programs have been carried out for more than 50 years with the direct participation of military units for launching and controlling spacecraft and military formations of missile and space defense (RKO), on the basis of which the Space Forces were created in 2001. At the same time, it was taken into account that space forces and means, forces and means of the RKO have a single sphere of problem solving - space, as well as close cooperation of industrial enterprises, ensuring the creation and development of weapons.

Over the 10-year period of active activity, the Space Forces conducted and ensured more than 230 launches of launch vehicles, which launched into orbit more than 300 spacecraft for military, dual, socio-economic and scientific purposes. Among them are communications, navigation, cartography, remote sensing, telecommunications, scientific apparatus, etc.

Space control equipment provided warnings of more than 900 dangerous approaches of space objects to the international space station.

The duty forces of the Main Test Center for Testing and Control of Spacecraft named after G.S. Titov conducted about 2.5 million sessions of spacecraft control.

The inclusion of air defense forces and means into the Aerospace Defense Forces, dating back to the period of the First World War, when, to cover the most important centers of the country, the to create air defense for the capital of Russia - Petrograd and its environs. Even then, it included anti-aircraft artillery batteries, air crews, and a network of air surveillance posts.
The organizational structure of the air defense forces (since 1928 - air defense) developed with the development of military aviation. Since 1924, the formation of anti-aircraft artillery regiments began for air defense.

On May 10, 1932, the Red Army Air Defense Directorate was created. Separate brigades, divisions, and air defense corps have been formed. On November 9, 1941, the air defense forces of the country acquired the status of an independent branch of the military. In January 1942, air defense aviation was organized within them. The branches of air defense troops, in addition to fighter aircraft, were anti-aircraft artillery and air surveillance, warning and communications troops.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces included operational-strategic formations: air armies, fronts and air defense armies. During the war years, the Air Defense Forces destroyed more than 64 thousand enemy aircraft in air battles, anti-aircraft fire and at airfields.

Currently, air defense formations and military units are units of constant combat readiness. They include anti-aircraft missile and radio engineering units. They are designed to protect command posts of the highest echelons of state and military command, groupings of troops (forces), the most important industrial and economic centers and other objects from attacks by enemy aerospace attacks within the affected zones.

Radio technical equipment and complexes of automation equipment for radar complexes and stations of medium, high and low altitudes are intended for conducting radar reconnaissance of enemy air and issuing radar information about the air situation within the radar field to higher command and control bodies and other branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces, to combat control points means of aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces and electronic warfare when they solve problems in peacetime and wartime.

Currently, the air defense forces are armed with anti-aircraft missile systems and systems, which constitute the main firepower in the air defense (aerospace) defense system. Modern Russian anti-aircraft missile systems S-300, S-400, and the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system are capable of destroying various air targets, including hitting ballistic missile warheads.

Air defense brigade personnel are on combat duty around the clock to protect the airspace over the capital region and the Central Industrial Region of the country. About 140 objects of government administration, industry and energy, transport communications, and nuclear power plants are protected by the forces and means of anti-aircraft missile and radio engineering units of the air defense forces.

The creation of the Aerospace Defense Forces was caused by the objective need to integrate, under unified leadership, all forces and assets capable of fighting in the aerospace sphere, based on modern global trends towards expanding the role of aerospace in ensuring the protection of vital state interests in the economic, military and social spheres.

On December 1, 2011, formations and military units of the Space Forces, together with military formations of the operational strategic command of the East Kazakhstan region, became part of a new branch of the military - the Aerospace Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Today, the Aerospace Defense Forces are a modern, dynamically developing, high-tech branch of the military that ensures the defense and security of the state in aerospace.

The objects of the Aerospace Defense Forces are located throughout Russia - from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, as well as beyond its borders. Facilities of missile attack warning and space control systems are deployed in neighboring countries - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

On December 1, 2011, the Aerospace Defense Forces, in cooperation with the air defense forces and means of the military districts, took up combat duty with the task of protecting the country’s territory from attacks by aerospace attack weapons.

Space Force

From the history of creation

Space Force The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were created in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 24, 2001.

The first military formations for space purposes were formed in 1955, when by decree of the USSR government it was decided to build a research site, which later became the world-famous Baikonur Cosmodrome.

In 1957, in connection with preparations for the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, the Command and Measurement Complex for Spacecraft Control was created (now the Main Test Center for Testing and Control of Spacecraft named after G.S. Titov, GITSIU KS). In the same year, in the city of Mirny, Arkhangelsk region, construction began on a test site intended for launches of R-7 intercontinental ballistic missiles - the current Plesetsk cosmodrome.

On October 4, 1957, the launch and control units of spacecraft carried out the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite "PS-1", and on April 12, 1961 - the launch and control of the flight of the world's first manned spacecraft "Vostok" with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on board. Subsequently, all domestic and international space programs were carried out with the direct participation of military units in launching and controlling spacecraft.

In 1964, to centralize work on the creation of new means, as well as to quickly resolve issues of using space means, the Central Directorate of Space Facilities (TSUKOS) of the USSR Ministry of Defense was created. In 1970, TsUKOS was reorganized into the Main Directorate of Space Facilities (GUKOS) of the Ministry of Defense. In 1982, GUKOS and the units subordinate to it were withdrawn from the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) and subordinated directly to the Minister of Defense.

In 1992, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 27, 1992, the Military Space Forces (VKS) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were created, which included the Baikonur Cosmodrome, spacecraft launch units at the Plesetsk test site, and the Main Test Center for testing and control of space assets. Colonel General Vladimir Ivanov was appointed the first commander of the Aerospace Forces.

In 1997, according to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 16, “in accordance with the needs of defense and security, as well as the real economic capabilities of the country,” the Russian Aerospace Forces merged with the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) and the Missile and Space Defense Forces (RKO) of the Air Defense Forces.

In 2001, in connection with the increasing role of space assets in the military and national security system of Russia, the country's top political leadership decided to create a new type of military force on the basis of formations, formations and units for launching and controlling spacecraft, as well as RKO troops, allocated from the Strategic Missile Forces. Space Forces. On March 26, 2002, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation presented a personal standard to the commander of the Space Forces.

On October 3, 2002, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Space Forces Day was introduced, celebrated annually on October 4.

The Russian Space Forces are designed to solve the following tasks:
• detection of the beginning of a missile attack on the Russian Federation and its allies;
• combating enemy ballistic missiles attacking the defended area;
• maintaining the established composition of orbital constellations of military and dual-use spacecraft and ensuring their use for their intended purpose;
• control over outer space;
• ensuring the implementation of the Russian Federal Space Program, international cooperation programs and commercial space programs.

The Space Forces included:
• Rocket and Space Defense Association (RKO)
• State test cosmodromes of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Baikonur, Plesetsk and Svobodny
• Main Test Center for Testing and Control of Spacecraft named after G.S. Titov
• department for depositing cash settlement services
• military educational institutions and support units.

  The RKO association includes missile attack warning (MAW), missile defense and space control (SSC) units. It is armed with radar, radio engineering, optical-electronic, and optical means, which are controlled from one center and operate according to a single plan in real time using a single information field.

  Management of orbital constellations of spacecraft is carried out by the Main Test Center named after. G.S. Titova. The state test cosmodromes Plesetsk, Svobodny and Baikonur are intended to create, maintain and replenish the domestic orbital constellation of spacecraft.

  Space Forces facilities are located throughout Russia and beyond its borders. Abroad, they are deployed in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan.

  As of the end of 2007, the Russian orbital constellation consisted of 100 spacecraft. Of these, 40 satellites are for defense purposes, 21 are dual-use (capable of simultaneously solving military, socio-economic and scientific problems) and 39 spacecraft for scientific and socio-economic purposes. Since 2004, it has increased one and a half times.

  The Space Forces are armed with satellites for specific reconnaissance (optical-electronic and radar reconnaissance), radio-electronic control (radio and electronic reconnaissance), communications (Cosmos, Globus and Rainbow series) and a global satellite navigation system for troops ( "Hurricane" series). The launch of satellites into a given orbit is provided by light (Start-1, Kosmos-3M, Cyclone-2, Cyclone-3), medium-sized (Soyuz-U, Soyuz-2, "Zenit") and heavy ("Proton-K", "Proton-M") classes.

  The main cosmodrome for launching military and dual-use spacecraft is the Plesetsk cosmodrome. It is based on technical and launch complexes for space rockets "Molniya-M", "Soyuz-U", "Soyuz-2", "Cyclone-3", "Cosmos-3M", "Rokot".

  The space forces use the means of the ground-based automated spacecraft control complex (NAKU KA): command and measurement systems "Taman-Baza", "Fazan", radar "Kama", quantum-optical system "Sazhen-T", ground-based receiving and recording station " Nauka M-04", radar stations "DON-2N", "Dnepr", "Daryal", "Volga", radio-optical complex for recognition of space objects "KRONA", optical-electronic complex "OKNO".

  The structure of the Space Forces includes military educational institutions: Military Space Academy (VKA) named after. A.F. Mozhaisky (St. Petersburg), Pushkin Military Institute of Radio Electronics of the Space Forces named after. Air Marshal E.Ya. Savitsky (Pushkin), Moscow Military Institute of Radio Electronics of the Space Forces (Kubinka), Peter the Great Military Space Cadet Corps (St. Petersburg).

  From July 4, 2008 to December 1, 2011, the commander of the Space Forces is Major General Oleg Nikolaevich Ostapenko.

  With the formation of the Aerospace Defense Forces in Russia, the Space Forces ceased to exist. The aerospace defense forces were formed on the basis of the Space Forces and the troops of the operational-strategic command of the aerospace defense.

  The creation of the Aerospace Defense Forces was required to combine the forces and assets responsible for ensuring the security of Russia in space and from space, with military formations solving the problems of air defense (air defense) of the Russian Federation. This was caused by the objective need to integrate, under a single leadership, all forces and means capable of fighting in the air and space spheres, based on modern world trends in armament and rearmament of leading countries towards expanding the role of aerospace in ensuring the protection of state interests in the economic, military and social spheres.

  Aerospace Defense Forces facilities are located throughout Russia - from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, as well as beyond its borders. Missile attack warning and space control systems are deployed in neighboring countries - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

  Commanders of the Aerospace Defense Forces:
  • From December 1, 2011 to November 9, 2012 - Colonel General Oleg Nikolaevich Ostapenko.
  • Since November 9, 2012, acting Lieutenant General Valery Mikhailovich Ivanov.
  • Since December 24, 2012 - Major General Alexander Valentinovich Golovko.

  Organizational structure of the aerospace defense forces

  • Aerospace Defense Forces
  • Command of the Aerospace Defense Forces
  • Space Command (SC):
    • Main Test Space Center named after. G.S. Titova
  • Air and Missile Defense Command (Air Defense and Missile Defense):
    • Air Defense Brigades
    • Missile Defense Joint
  • State Test Cosmodrome "Plesetsk" (GIC "Plesetsk")
    • Separate scientific research station (Kura test site)
  • Arsenal

  Aerospace Defense Troops (VVKO)- a separate branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, created by decision of President Dmitry Medvedev. The first duty shift of the command post of the Aerospace Defense Forces took up combat duty on December 1, 2011.

  These troops include:
  • Main Missile Attack Warning Center (Missile Attack Warning System);
  • Main center for space reconnaissance (Space Control Center);
  • Main Test Space Center named after German Titov;
  • Air and Missile Defense Command (Air Defense and Missile Defense) (Operational-Strategic Command of Aerospace Defense), consisting of an air defense brigade (former troops of the Operational-Strategic Command of Aerospace Defense and the Special Purpose Command of the Moscow Air Defense District) and missile defense formations defense;
  • State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk (1st State Test Cosmodrome), including a separate scientific research station (Kura test site). Kura Missile Range - test site of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces;
  • Arsenal (a military institution for storing, repairing and assembling, accounting, issuing weapons and ammunition to troops, as well as for carrying out work on their assembly, repair and production of some parts for them).

  Main missile attack warning center
  (Missile Warning System)

  Missile attack warning system (MAWS)- a special comprehensive system for warning the leadership of a state about the enemy’s use of missile weapons against the state and repelling its surprise attack.

  Designed to detect a missile attack before the missiles reach their targets. It consists of two echelons - ground-based radars and an orbital constellation of early warning system satellites.
  

  History of creation
  

  The development and adoption of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the late 1950s led to the need to create means of detecting the launches of such missiles in order to eliminate the possibility of a surprise attack.

  The Soviet Union began building a missile attack warning system in the early 1960s. The first early warning radar stations were deployed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their main task was to provide information about a missile attack for missile defense systems, and not to ensure the possibility of a retaliatory strike. The first radars detected missiles after they appeared from behind the local horizon or, using the reflections of radio waves from the ionosphere, “looked” beyond the horizon. But, in any case, the maximum achievable power of such stations and the imperfection of technical means for processing the received information limited the detection range to two to three thousand kilometers, which corresponded to a warning time of 10 - 15 minutes before arrival to the territory of the USSR.

  In 1960, in the USA, the AN/FPS-49 radar (developed by D.C. Barton) for a missile attack warning system was adopted into service in Alaska and Great Britain (replaced only after 40 years of service with newer radars).

  In 1972, the USSR developed the concept of an integrated missile attack warning system. It included ground-based above-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radar stations and space assets and was capable of ensuring the implementation of a retaliatory strike. To detect ICBM launches while they are passing through the active part of the trajectory, which would provide maximum warning time, it was planned to use early warning satellites and over-the-horizon radars. Detection of missile warheads in later sections of the ballistic trajectory was provided using a system of over-the-horizon radars. This separation significantly increases the reliability of the system and reduces the likelihood of errors, since different physical principles are used to detect a missile attack: registration of infrared radiation from the operating engine of a launching ICBM by satellite sensors and registration of the reflected radio signal using radar.

  USSR missile attack warning system

  Missile attack warning radar

  Work on the creation of a long-range detection radar began after the decision of the USSR Government in 1954 to develop proposals for the creation of a missile defense system for Moscow. Its most important elements were to be the radar for detecting and determining with high accuracy the coordinates of enemy missiles and warheads at a distance of several thousand kilometers. In 1956, by the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On Missile Defense” A.L. Mints was appointed one of the chief designers of the DO radar, and in the same year, research began in Kazakhstan on the reflective parameters of ballistic missile warheads launched from the Kapustin Yar test site.

  The construction of the first early warning radars was carried out in 1963 - 1969. These were two radars of the Dnestr-M type, located in Olenegorsk (Kola Peninsula) and Skrunda (Latvia). In August 1970 the system was put into service. It was designed to detect ballistic missiles launched from the United States or from the Norwegian and North Seas. The main task of the system at this stage was to provide information about a missile attack for the missile defense system deployed around Moscow.

  In 1967 - 1968, simultaneously with the construction of radars in Olenegorsk and Skrunda, the construction of four Dnepr-type radars (a modernized version of the Dnestr-M radar) began. Nodes were chosen for construction in Balkhash-9 (Kazakhstan), Mishelevka (near Irkutsk), and Sevastopol. Another one was built at the site in Skrunda, in addition to the Dnestr-M radar already operating there. These stations were supposed to provide a wider coverage area of ​​the warning system, expanding it to the North Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

  At the beginning of 1971, on the basis of the early warning command post in Solnechnogorsk, a missile attack warning system command post was created. On February 15, 1971, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense, a separate anti-missile surveillance division began combat duty.

  The concept of a missile attack warning system developed in 1972 provided for integration with existing and newly created missile defense systems. As part of this program, the Danube-3 (Kubinka) and Danube-3U (Chekhov) radars of the Moscow missile defense system were included in the warning system. In addition to the completion of the construction of the Dnepr radar in Balkhash, Mishelevka, Sevastopol and Skrunda, it was planned to create a new radar of this type at a new node in Mukachevo (Ukraine). Thus, the Dnepr radar was to become the basis of a new missile attack warning system. The first stage of this system, which included radars at the nodes in Olenegorsk, Skrunda, Balkhash-9 and Mishelevka, began combat duty on October 29, 1976. The second stage, which included radars at the nodes in Sevastopol and Mukachevo, was put on combat duty January 16, 1979.

  In the early 70s of the last century, new types of threats appeared - ballistic missiles with multiple and actively maneuvering warheads, as well as strategic cruise missiles that use passive (false targets, radar decoys) and active (jamming) countermeasures. Their detection was also made difficult by the introduction of radar signature reduction systems (Stealth technology). To meet the new conditions, in 1971 - 1972, a project for a new early warning radar of the Daryal type was developed. In 1984, a station of this type was handed over to the state commission and entered combat duty in Pechora, Komi Republic. A similar station was built in 1987 in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
  

  Space echelon early warning system
  

  In accordance with the design of the missile attack warning system, in addition to over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars, it was supposed to include a space echelon. It made it possible to significantly expand its capabilities due to the ability to detect ballistic missiles almost immediately after launch.

  The lead developer of the space echelon of the warning system was the Central Research Institute "Kometa", and the Design Bureau named after them was responsible for the development of spacecraft. Lavochkina.

  By 1979, a space system for early detection of ICBM launches was deployed, consisting of four US-K spacecraft (SC) (Oko system) in highly elliptical orbits. To receive, process information and control the system’s spacecraft, an early warning control center was built in Serpukhov-15 (70 km from Moscow). After flight development tests, the first generation US-K system was put into service in 1982. It was intended to monitor continental missile-prone areas of the United States. To reduce exposure to background radiation from the Earth, reflections of sunlight from clouds, and glare, the satellites observed not vertically downward, but at an angle. To achieve this, the apogees of the highly elliptical orbit were located over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. An additional advantage of this configuration was the ability to observe the basing areas of American ICBMs on both daily orbits, while maintaining direct radio communication with the command post near Moscow or with the Far East. This configuration provided conditions for observation of approximately 6 hours per day for one satellite. To ensure round-the-clock surveillance, it was necessary to have at least four spacecraft in orbit at the same time. In reality, to ensure reliability and reliability of observations, the constellation had to include nine satellites. This made it possible to have the necessary reserve in case of premature failure of satellites. In addition, the observation was carried out simultaneously by two or three spacecraft, which reduced the likelihood of issuing a false signal from illumination of the recording equipment by direct sunlight or sunlight reflected from clouds. This configuration of 9 satellites was first created in 1987.

  In addition, since 1984, one US-KS spacecraft (Oko-S system) has been placed in geostationary orbit. It was the same basic satellite, slightly modified to operate in geostationary orbit.

  These satellites were positioned at 24° west longitude, providing surveillance of the central part of the United States at the edge of the visible disk of the Earth. Satellites in geostationary orbit have a significant advantage - they do not change their position relative to the Earth and can provide constant support to a constellation of satellites in highly elliptical orbits.

  The increase in the number of missile-hazardous areas made it necessary to ensure the detection of ballistic missile launches not only from the continental United States, but also from other areas of the globe. In this regard, the Central Research Institute "Kometa" began to develop a second-generation system for detecting ballistic missile launches from continents, seas and oceans, which was a logical continuation of the "Oko" system. Its distinctive feature, in addition to placing a satellite in geostationary orbit, was the use of vertical observation of rocket launches against the background of the earth's surface. This solution allows not only to register the fact of missile launch, but also to determine the azimuth of their flight.

  The deployment of the US-KMO system began in February 1991 with the launch of the first second-generation spacecraft. In 1996, the US-KMO (“Oko-1”) system with a spacecraft in geostationary orbit was put into service.

  Russian missile attack warning system

  As of October 23, 2007, the early warning system orbital constellation consisted of three satellites - 1 US-KMO in geostationary orbit (Kosmos-2379 launched into orbit on 08/24/2001) and 2 US-KS in a highly elliptical orbit (Cosmos-2422 launched into orbit on 07/21/2001) .2006, Cosmos-2430 launched into orbit on October 23, 2007). On June 27, 2008, Kosmos-2440 was launched.

  To ensure the solution of the tasks of detecting ballistic missile launches and communicating combat control commands to the strategic nuclear forces (Strategic Nuclear Forces), it was planned to create a Unified Space System (USS) on the basis of the US-K and US-KMO systems.

  At the beginning of 2012, the planned deployment of high factory readiness radar stations (VZG radar) "Voronezh" is being carried out with the aim of forming a closed missile attack warning radar field at a new technological level with significantly improved characteristics and capabilities. Currently, new VZG radars have been deployed in Lekhtusi (one meter), Armavir (two decimeter), and Svetlogorsk (decimeter). The construction of a dual meter VZG radar complex in the Irkutsk region is progressing ahead of schedule - the first segment of the south-eastern direction has been put on experimental combat duty, the complex with a second antenna sheet for viewing the eastern direction is planned to be put on OBD in 2013. Work on creating a unified space system (USS) is entering the home stretch.
  

  Early warning stations of Russia on the territory of Ukraine
  

  In December 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced the transfer to the United States of a package of proposals regarding cooperation in the rocket and space sector. After their formalization into the agreement, American specialists will have access to space infrastructure facilities subordinated to the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU), including two Dnepr radar stations of the missile attack warning system (MAWS) in Sevastopol and Mukachevo, information from which is transmitted to SPRN central command post in Solnechnogorsk.

  Unlike early warning radars located in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan, leased by Russia and maintained by Russian military personnel, Ukrainian radars have not only been owned by Ukraine since 1992, but have also been maintained by the Ukrainian military. Based on an interstate agreement, information from these radars, which monitor outer space over Central and Southern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean, is sent to the central command post of the early warning system in Solnechnogorsk, subordinate to the Russian Space Forces. For this, Ukraine received $1.2 million annually.

  In February 2005, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense demanded that Russia increase the payment, but Moscow refused, recalling that the 1992 agreement was for 15 years. Then, in September 2005, Ukraine began the process of transferring the radar station to the subordination of the NSAU, with a view to re-registering the agreement in connection with the change in the status of the radar station. Russia cannot prevent American specialists from accessing the radar. At the same time, Russia would have to rapidly deploy new Voronezh-DM radars on its territory, which it did, putting nodes on duty near Krasnodar Armavir and Kaliningrad Svetlogorsk.

  In March 2006, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko said that Ukraine would not lease two missile attack warning stations in Mukachevo and Sevastopol to the United States.

  In June 2006, the General Director of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU), Yuriy Alekseev, said that Ukraine and Russia agreed to increase the service fee in the interests of the Russian side for the radar stations in Sevastopol and Mukachevo “one and a half times” in 2006.

  Currently, Russia has abandoned the use of stations in Sevastopol and Mukachevo. The leadership of Ukraine decided to dismantle both stations over the next 3 - 4 years. The military units serving the stations have already been disbanded.
  

  Main space reconnaissance center
  (Space Control Center)

  Main center for space reconnaissance (GC RKO) is an element of the Space Control System (SCCS), which is part of the Russian Missile and Space Defense Army (RKO). The SKKP serves to provide information support for the state's space activities and counter the space reconnaissance means of potential adversaries, assess the dangers of the space situation and communicate information to consumers.

  Performed tasks:
  • detection of space objects in geocentric orbits;
  • recognition of space objects by type;
  • determination of the time and area of ​​possible fall of space objects in emergency situations;
  • identification of dangerous approaches along the flight path of domestic manned spacecraft;
  • determination of the fact and parameters of spacecraft maneuver;
  • notification of overflights of foreign reconnaissance spacecraft;
  • information and ballistic support for the actions of active anti-missile and anti-space defense systems (BMD and PKO);
  • maintaining a catalog of space objects (Main System Catalog - GCS);
  • assessment of the performance of funds and SKKP;
  • control of the geostationary region of space;
  • analysis and assessment of the space situation.

  History of education
  

  On March 6, 1965, the Directive of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (VPVO) was signed on the formation of a “Special Central Control Commission Cadre” on the basis of the 45th Specialized Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense (SNII MO). This day has been the birthday of the Central Committee of the Red Cross since 1970. In April 1965, the government made a decision to build a complex of technological buildings for the Central Committee for Communal Use and Control in the Noginsk district of the Moscow region, which was named Noginsk-9. On October 7, 1965, the “Cadre of the Special Central Control Commission” was assigned the number - military unit No. 28289. The first temporary staff of the “Cadre of the Special Central Control Commission” was put into effect on April 27, 1965. November 20, 1965 - the first order in the history of the Central Control Commission was signed, which stated , that Lieutenant Colonel V.P. Smirnov took temporary command of the “Cadre of the Special Central Command and Control Commission.” At the end of 1965, Colonel N.A. Martynov, who graduated with a gold medal from the Academy of the General Staff, was appointed head of the Central Control Commission; Lieutenant Colonel V.P. Smirnov became the chief engineer. On October 1, 1966, based on a directive from the General Staff, the “Cadre of the Space Control Center” unit was transformed into the “Space Control Center”, removed from the 45th SNII MO and transferred to the command of the commander of military unit 73570.
  

  Air and Missile Defense Command (Air Defense and Missile Defense)
  (Operational-Strategic Aerospace Defense Command)

  Operational-Strategic Command of Aerospace Defense (USC VKO)- the operational-strategic command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, intended for the strategic defense of Russia from threats from the air and from space. The headquarters is in the city of Balashikha (Moscow region). On December 1, 2011, on the basis of the USC VKO and the Russian Space Forces, a new branch of the military was created - the Aerospace Defense Forces.
  The only commander during the existence of the structure was Lieutenant General Valery Ivanov; on November 8, 2011, he was dismissed from the post of commander of the USC VKO troops and appointed first deputy commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces.

  Story

  USC VKO was formed during the military reform of 2008-2010 on the basis of the Special Purpose Command of the Moscow Air Defense District, disbanded on July 1, as well as a number of other structures of the Air Force and Space Forces of Russia.

  The USC East Kazakhstan region includes the following systems:
  • air defense (air defense)
  • reconnaissance and warning of aerospace attack
  • missile defense (BMD)
  • space surveillance.

    It is planned that over time, all forces and means intended for the strategic defense of the country from threats from both the air and space will be under a single command.

    The basis of the subsystem for reconnaissance and warning of an aerospace attack, as well as the subsystem for destroying aerospace attack weapons of foreign states, will be formations and units of aviation and air defense forces of the Air Force and missile and space defense troops from the space forces.

    At the same time, maintaining all units of the troops in a state of full combat readiness and timely execution of commands given from above will continue to be the responsibility of the previous headquarters and command structures: for example, the Air Force in the case of fighter-interceptors or the KV in the case of anti-missile defenses. However, operational management, as well as decision-making on the use of this or that type of weapon, will be in charge of the Joint Command.
    

    State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk

    Plesetsk Cosmodrome (1st State Test Cosmodrome)- Russian cosmodrome. Located 180 kilometers south of Arkhangelsk not far from the Plesetskaya railway station of the Northern Railway. The total area of ​​the cosmodrome is 176,200 hectares.

    The administrative and residential center of the cosmodrome is the city of Mirny. The number of personnel and population of the city of Mirny is approximately 28 thousand people. The territory of the cosmodrome belongs to the municipal formation of the Mirny urban district, bordering the Vinogradovsky, Plesetsk and Kholmogorsky districts of the Arkhangelsk region.

    The Plesetsk cosmodrome is a complex scientific and technical complex that performs various tasks both in the interests of the Russian Armed Forces and for peaceful purposes.

    It contains:
    • launch complexes with launch vehicles;
    • technical complexes for the preparation of space rockets and spacecraft;
    • multifunctional refueling and neutralization station (FNS) for refueling launch vehicles, upper stages and spacecraft with rocket fuel components;
    • 1473 buildings and structures;
    • 237 energy supply facilities.
    The main units placed in the starting structure are:
    • Launch table;
    • Cable filling tower.

    From the 1970s until the early 1990s, the Plesetsk cosmodrome held the world leadership in the number of rocket launches into space (from 1957 to 1993, 1,372 launches were carried out from here, while only 917 were launched from Baikonur, which was in second place).

    However, since the 1990s, the annual number of launches from Plesetsk is less than from Baikonur. Russia carried out 28 launches of launch vehicles in 2008, maintaining first place in the world in the number of launches and surpassing its own figure for 2007. Most (19) of the 27 launches were carried out from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, six from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. One space launch was carried out from the Yasny launch base (Orenburg region) and the Kapustin Yar test site (Astrakhan region). In 2008, the United States conducted 14 launches of launch vehicles, including four shuttles. China launched 11 rockets into space, Europe - six. Other countries have carried out three or fewer launches. In 2007, Russia carried out 26 launches, the USA - 19, China - 10, the European Space Agency - 6, India - 3, Japan - 2.

    Among the currently operating cosmodromes, Plesetsk is the northernmost cosmodrome in the world (if you do not count sites for suborbital launches as cosmodromes). Situated on a plateau-like and slightly hilly plain, the cosmodrome covers an area of ​​1762 km², stretching from north to south for 46 kilometers and from east to west for 82 kilometers with a center having geographic coordinates of 63°00′ N. w. 41°00′ E. d. (G) (O).

    The cosmodrome has an extensive network of roads - 301.4 km and railways - 326 km, aviation equipment and a first-class military airfield, allowing the operation of aircraft with a maximum landing weight of up to 220 tons, such as Il-76, Tu-154, communications equipment , including space.

    The railway network of the Plesetsk cosmodrome is one of the largest departmental railways in Russia. From the Gorodskaya railway station, located in the city of Mirny, passenger trains depart daily on several routes. The length of the farthest of them is about 80 kilometers.
    

    Kura Missile Range- test site of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces. Located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, near the village of Klyuchi, 500 km north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in a swampy, deserted area on the Kamchatka River. The main purpose is to receive the warheads of ballistic missiles after test and training launches, control the parameters of their entry into the atmosphere and the accuracy of the hit.

    The test site was established on April 29, 1955 and was initially codenamed “Kama”. A Separate Scientific Testing Station (ONIS) was formed, formed on the basis of Research Institute No. 4 in the village of Bolshevo, Moscow Region. The development of the training ground began on June 1, 1955 with the help of a separate radar battalion assigned to it. In a short time, the military town of Klyuchi-1, a network of roads, an airfield and a number of special structures were built.

    Currently, the test site continues to function, remaining one of the most closed facilities of the Strategic Missile Forces. The following are stationed at the training ground: military unit 25522 (43rd Separate Scientific Testing Station), military unit 73990 (14th separate measuring complex), military unit 25923 (military hospital), military unit 32106 (aviation commandant's office), military unit 13641 ( separate mixed aviation squadron). More than a thousand officers, warrant officers, contract soldiers and about 240 conscripts serve at the training ground.

    To monitor the test site, the United States maintains a permanent observation station, Eareckson Air Station (former Shemya airbase), 935 kilometers from the test site, on one of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The base is equipped with radars and aircraft to monitor hits at the training ground. One of these radars, "Cobra Dane", was created in 1977 at Shemya specifically for this purpose.

    On June 1, 2010, the test site was withdrawn from the Strategic Missile Forces and included in the structure of the Space Forces.