The newest Russian radar "Podsolnukh", seeing beyond the horizon

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Alert of a possible attack and detection of aircraft, helicopters, missiles, including low-flying ones, is one of the main tasks of the Russian Air Defense Forces. They recently received another tool to carry it out.

The new Podsolnukh radar can detect targets previously inaccessible to radar stations. They "see" objects behind obstacles, and even those that, according to all the laws of physics, cannot be seen because they are on the side of the planet hidden by the horizon. The beams emitted by the antennas of modern radars usually travel in a straight line, they work only in line-of-sight conditions, but this radar is unique.

Over-the-horizon alert

The principle of over-the-horizon vision is reflected in the design of several Russian radar stations of the latest generation. Among them are the "Container", "Taurus" and "Wave" systems. They work on the diffraction principle, which means the ability of the signals emitted by them to go around obstacles both in the forward and in the opposite direction. Russian specialists are world leaders in the field of high-frequency location, such developments are currentlytime are considered the most revolutionary and unparalleled. The Podsolnukh-E radar is a modification designed for export deliveries to countries that are considered strategic allies of the Russian Federation. It has a target detection radius of up to 300 km. The system is strongly defensive in nature and is not designed to wage aggressive wars.

What is diffraction?

Everyone knows the effect of light refraction. Even if the direct rays of the sun or other light source do not enter the room, it can be quite light in it. If the waves could only travel in a straight line, then in many places there would be total darkness. It is through refraction and reflection that objects become visible. This phenomenon applies not only to light: for example, the signals of shortwave radio stations are easily received on the opposite side of the planet. They go around the Earth, reflecting from the ionosphere, and safely reach the receiver antennas.

This is how the Volna radar works, the design of which takes into account the reflectivity of the surface and the ionosphere. Radar "Sunflower" is arranged, at first glance, simpler: it does not use the physical properties of the upper atmosphere. But its over-the-horizon capabilities do not become less because of this. Specialists of the Research Institute for Long-Range Radio Communications do not disclose technical details, but it is known that the system creates an all- altitude radar field using short-wave signals, which, as is known from the wave physics course, canpenetrate into any point of three-dimensional space.

From "Arc" to "Sunflower"

Experiments on over-the-horizon location were carried out in the USSR back in the 60s. The systems developed then and later were very bold, but costly. Huge radiating structures were built (“Duga” in the areas of the cities of Nikolaev, Chernobyl and Komsomolsk-on-Amur), and their goal was the overseas continent, from where ICBM launches were expected. Theoretically, they could assess the situation within a radius of 10,000 km, but in practice, the information obtained with their help could not be 100% trusted. The Americans called these stations "Russian woodpeckers" for the specific nature of the interference they create on the air. The unevenness of the ionosphere had a bad effect on the performance of the system, besides, potential opponents learned to introduce additional distortions, for which high-power emitters were built in Alaska, Japan and Norway. Nevertheless, work continued, experience appeared that was used much later, when creating modern over-the-horizon detection tools, including the Podsolnukh radar.

What the public knows

The system was first presented during the international exhibition IMDS-2007, held in St. Petersburg and dedicated to naval armaments. A year later, a demonstration of the Sunflower radar took place at the Euronaval-2008 salon, where special emphasis was placed on the export version with the E index. showed great interest in the new systemBrazilian delegation, but its main purpose was to ensure the security of Russian coastal borders. April 2014 was the date when large-scale practical tests of the Podsolnukh radar took place for the first time in conditions as close as possible to combat. They took place in the Caspian Sea, and the ships of the flotilla served as training purposes, as did the missiles they launched. In order to complicate the task, the latest RTOs "Uglich" and "Grad Sviyazhsk", built using the Ste alth technology, took part in the maneuvers.

What is Sunflower?

This system is not portable or small. Antenna (receiving and emitting) fields take up quite a lot of space and can be spaced far enough apart. The station operates in the decimeter range, it is able to detect, track, identify and issue target designations of the country's air defense in automatic mode for a hundred aircraft and three hundred ships (surface) in any weather. The range is up to 450 kilometers with a field of view of 120 °. The consumed electrical power is 200 kW. For safety, all electronic equipment is mounted in special protected containers. With its help (in addition to direct tasks), the meteorological situation, radio interference and physical conditions of the sea surface can be analyzed along the way.

This is almost all the information about the export version of the system. It is possible that the exercises with the Russian Podsolnukh radar, intended for "internal use", revealed the great potential of the installation.

There are also problems. Yes, hardwarerecognition "friend or foe", working only in line of sight, while it is difficult to agree with this short-wave radar station.

From the Arctic to the Crimea

The Podsolnukh radar, according to S. Boev, General Director of RTI OJSC, is in a state of permanent improvement. Thus, the special climatic conditions of the Arctic require special approaches to some constructive solutions. The accuracy and quality characteristics of the station are also continuously enhanced. The security of the Far East coast requires at least five such systems. One should work on the Bosphorus direction (Crimea). They are also needed in the North. And then - according to the considerations of the General Staff.