A new radar station was launched on the outskirts of St. Petersburg several days ago. The launch of the fifth-generation Voronezh-M missile warning system became an outstanding event for the whole country.
The personnel of the new station conducted a training session after the radar was put on duty. The session was conducted to show the abilities of the station in detecting the launches of ballistic missiles. It is worthy of note that representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church attended the opening ceremony. They sanctified the station by all canons.
"This is a historical event. The station has started executing combat tasks within the structure of aerospace troops of the Russian Federation. The new station outstrips its predecessors considerably," Oleg Ostapenko, the aerospace troops commander told Interfax.
Voronezh-M became the first prefabricated radar station in the country. There are three other new generation radar stations in Russia. At the end of 2011, Russia launched a new missile warning radar Voronezh-DM. This station is located in the Kaliningrad enclave.
The main goal of the new station near St. Petersburg is to provide constant radar control in the north-western missile-threat region. The station was deployed there to restore the integrity of the radar field which was undermined after the closure of the radar station in Latvia.
The construction of Voronezh-M began in 2005. The station went on air in December of the same year. The station had been operating in test regime since March 2007.
Voronezh-M was designed to obtain trajectory data to warn against missile attacks. The station delivers the data to administering bodies and forms the necessary information for "Moscow" missile defense system. Voronezh-M also collects information about space objects.
Voronezh Radar Station monitors missile launches in Sweden and Norway. It also monitors aircraft flying in the area of its responsibility. A similar station of this type is running in Russia's Krasnodar region. Another station is to be put in operation in the Irkutsk region. The construction of the radar stations of new generation is planned to take place in Pechora, Barnaul, Eniseisk, Omsk and Murmansk.
Andrei Mikhailov
Pravda.Ru