ABALAKOVO PHASED-ARRAY RADAR FACILITY, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84T00491R000100470001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1984
• Content Type: MISC

J L _ L~._ lL
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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION CENTER
basic imagery interpretation report
Abalakovo Phased-Array
Radar Facility, USSR (S)
DEPLOYED AMM FACILITIES
Secret
USSR
Secret
Z-14002/84
RCA-02/0001 /84
JANUARY 1984
Copy 37
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Warning Notice
Intelligence Sources or Methods Involved
(WNINTEL)
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
DISSEMINATION CONTROL ABBREVIATIONS
NOFORN- Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals
NOCONTRACT - Not Releasable to Contractors or
Contractor/Consultants
PROPIN - Caution-Proprietary Information Involved
ORCON - Dissemination and Extraction of Information
Controlled by Originator
REL ... This Information has been Authorized for
Release to ...
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SECRET
NOFORN
-iss{,IN ITEI, KIN(:EN)M
NORTH
ABSTRACT
1. This report provides a description and construction chronology of the Abalakovo Phased-Array
Radar Facility. It compares the pace of construction at Abalakovo with other similar radars and compares
the inclination angle of the face of the antennas with that of other large new-generation, phased-array
radars. (S/WN)
2. The Abalakovo phased-array radar, one of five known large phased-array radars of its type, was
identified in July 1983 in the Central Asian region of the USSR. When first observed, it was in the midstage
of construction. A comparison of the pace of construction of this radar to others of its type suggests that
it had been under construction for approximately two to two-and-one-half years. Like the other radars,
the function of the Abalakovo radar is assessed to be ballistic missile early warning (BMEW). The radar
could be externally complete by 1986. (S/WN)
3. This report includes five annotated photographs, one map, a table of dimensions, and one
annotated line drawing. (S)
INTRODUCTION
4. The phased-array radar under construction at Abalakovo is the fifth new-generation, bistatic,
phased-array radar to be identified in the Soviet Union (Figure 1). The other four are located at Pechora,
Lyaki, Sary-Shagan, and Mishelevka. A sixth facility, at Olenegorsk, has a receiver antenna but no trans-
mitter. At present, the Abalakovo radar is in the midstage of construction. Its construction status is behind
that of the Sary-Shagan radar, but ahead of the radar at Mishelevka. The radars at Pechora and Lyaki are
externally complete. (S/WN)
Abalakovo Phased-Array Radar Facility
DMA. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0159-13, scale 1:200,000,
3rd Edition July 1973, SECRET/NOFORN
SEA
;ORSF
LACK
\ SEA
90
AFGHANISTAN/).
0
WA RA
SEA ,
SEA
SEA
OF
OKHO T SK
FIGURE 1. LOCATIONS OF NEW-GENERATION PHASED-ARRAY RADARS, USSRI 25X1
WNINTEL
RCA-02/0001/84 SECRET Z-14002/84
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SECRET
NOFORN
BASIC DESCRIPTION
5. The Abalakovo phased-array radar facility (Figure 2) is located in the Central Asian region of the
USSR, approximately 760 kilometers north of the nearest national border. The 40? boresight azimuth of
the radar gives it coverage of the Eastern Siberian landmass and fills in the gap in BMEW coverage of this
sector. (S/WN)
6. The Abalakovo radar consists of a C-shaped transmitter building, a modified A-frame receiver
building, and a support area that includes cooling facilities, storage tanks, and an electrical power
substation. The center-to-center distance between the transmitter and receiver is 840 meters. (S/WN)
7. The height of the Abalakovo radar transmitter is the same as that of the Sary-Shagan radar
transmitter-37 meters (Table 1). This is about two-thirds as high as the Pechora and Lyaki radar transmit-
ters, which are 56 meters. The antenna heights of the Mishelevka radar cannot be determined at this
stage of its construction. The Abalakovo transmitter has an extension 12 meters wide at the rear of the
building, between the two elevator shaft housings, similar to the transmitter at Sary-Shagan. The Pechora
and Lyaki transmitters do not have such an extension. In all other respects, all four radar transmitters
appear similar. (S/WN)
8. The Abalakovo radar receiver is 86 meters high and 95 meters long, the same as the Sary-Shagan,
Pechora, and Lyaki receivers. The atypical, receiver-only antenna at Olenegorsk is only 46 meters high.
The Abalakovo receiver building differs from the other receivers, having a two-story structure built into
its base and 30- by 24-meter extensions on both sides. The Pechora and Lyaki receiver buildings each
have a two-story structure at their bases, 6-meter-wide extensions on both sides, and a 114- by 6-meter
extension in the rear. The Sary-Shagan receiver building has a single-story structure at its base, 12-meter-
wide extensions on both sides, and a two-story extension, 138 by 12 meters, in the rear. (S/WN)
9. The support facilities for the Abalakovo radar are on the southwest side of the radar antennas
and will be approximately the same as those built for the Pechora radar. The electrical power substation
and the transmitter cooling facility are directly behind the transmitter antenna; likewise, the receiver
cooling facility is behind the receiver antenna. (S/WN)
Construction Chronology
10. When the Abalakovo transmitter building was first observed on imagery, the 25X1
transmitter-element modules had been emplaced to about three-fourths of the height of the antenna
face (Figure 3, top). The structural framework for the transmitter building had been completed, but some
sections of the wall and roof had not yet been paneled. The receiver building was cloud-covered on that
date. (S/WN)
11. When the receiver building was first observed~ about 90 percent of the framework 25X1
structure was complete and I-beams, to which the receiver-element modules are attached, were being
installed up the face of the antenna (Figure 4, top). At the transmitter building on this date (not shown),
the transmitter-element modules had been emplaced to the top of the antenna face, and support struc-
tures that hold the stacked element modules in place were being installed. (S/WN)
12. When the radar facility was next imaged the element-module support structures 25X1
were still being installed on the face of the transmitter antenna, and exterior wall panels and roof sections
were being installed on the antenna building. The framework of the receiver building was complete to
within one story of the top. (S/WN)
Table 1.
Comparison of Sizes of Phased-Array Radar Transmitter
and Receiver Antennas
Transmitter
Receiver
Center-to-Center Distance,
Facility
Length (m) Height (m)
Length (m)
Height (m)
Receiver to Transmitter (m)
Pechora Phased-Array
Radar Facility
45
56
95
86
800
Lyaki Phased-Array
Radar Facility
45
56
95
86
1,200
Sary-Shagan Phased-
Array Radar Facility
45
37
95
86
2,700
Abalakovo Phased-Array
45
37
95
Ucon; appears
840
Radar Facility
it will be 86
Mishelevka Phased-Array
Ucon; unable to determine dimensions
870
Radar Facility
Olenegorsk Phased-Array
Radar Facility
no transmitter
95
46
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RCA-02/0001/84 SECRET Z-14002/84
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13. I (the element-module support structures on the transmitter antenna appeared to
be completely installed and locked into place by a horizontal beam across the top. Work was still
underway on the top floor of the receiver building. (S/WN)
14. I-beam installation on the receiver was complete. (S/WN)
15. I (horizontal environmental-covering panels were being installed over the top
edge of the stacked element modules between the transmitter building framework and the element-
module support structures (Figure 3, bottom). At the receiver, the roof was being placed over the top
floor of the receiver building (Figure 4, bottom). Although the exterior wall panels had been installed on
the sides of the receiver building, the back of the structure was still open to the environment. (S/WN)
Comparison of Construction at Abalakovo with
Pechora and Sary-Shagan
16. When the Abalakovo radar was first imaged, it was already in the midstage of construction.
Compared with the construction of similar radars, the Abalakovo radar probably had been under con-
struction for approximately two to two-and-one-half years. Currently, the Abalakovo radar transmitter is
at about the same stage of construction as the Pechora radar transmitter was in March 1977, about two-
and-one-half years after construction started at Pechora. The Sary-Shagan transmitter, which is the same
size as the Abalakovo transmitter (Pechora is larger), was at approximately the same construction stage as
Abalakovo in September 1982, about two years after initial ground scarring was seen at its construction
site. (S/WN)
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25X1
25X1
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NOFORN
HEIGHT OF PECHORA AND
LYAKI TRANSMITTER ANTENNAS`\
HEIGHT OF ABALAKOVO
AND SARY-SHAGAN
TRANSMITTER ANTENNAS
20,
I NEW - GENERATION RADARS
(ABALAKOVO, PECHORA, LYAKI, ANDSARY-SHAGAN(
MISHELEVKA RADAR TOO EARLY IN CONSTRUCTION
HEN HOUSE BMEW RADAR
(MISHELEVKA, MUKACHEVO, OLENEGORSK,
SARYSHAGAN,SEVASTOPOL,AND SKRUNDA),
CHEKHOV CAT HOUSE ABM RADAR/MOSCOW
(RECEIVER ONLY)
OLEfEGORSK BMEW ANTENNA
HEN HOUSE ASAT RADARS
(MISHELVKAANDSARY-SHAGAN)
50 100
METERS (APPROX)
rYPIG T-7981
AL OUR SIDES HAVE A 30-INCLINATION
PU HKINO ABM RADAR/MOSCOW
5 -
NARO-FOMINSK TRANSMITTERS
NARO-POM NN$KR?CEIVERS
NARO-FOMINSK DOG HO~3S ABM
s E RADAR/MOSCOW
FIGURE 5. COMPARISON OF SOVIET BMEW, ASAT, AND ABM RADARS
17, Construction of the Abalakovo receiver appears to be slower than that of its predecessors. It is
at about the same stage of construction as the Pechora radar receiver was between February and August
1976, 15 to 21 months after construction started. The Sary-Shagan radar receiver reached approximately
the same stage of construction about one year after construction began. Thus, if construction of the
Abalakovo receiver started at about the same time as the transmitter, the receiver is about 6 to 12 months
behind the pace of its predecessors. (S/WN)
Comparison of Antenna Inclination Angles
18. The inclination angle of the Abalakovo radar antennas (20?) indicates that the Abalakovo radar,
like its predecessors at Pechora, Lyaki, and Sary-Shagan, will be used for ballistic missile early warning
(Figure 5). The Olenegorsk BMEW antenna is also inclined at 200 and, although still too early to measure,
the Mishelevka radar almost certainly will be the same. (S/WN)
19. The Soviet HEN HOUSE BMEW radars also have an inclination angle of 20?, which allows them
to track approaching reentry vehicles (RVs) from the horizon to about 65? above the horizon. (S/WN)
20. The other type of HEN HOUSE radar, assessed as having primarily a satellite-tracking function
(ASAT), has antennas with inclination angles of 20?, 40?, 60?, and 80?, which are used in combination to
provide an across-the-sky tracking capability, (S/WN)
21. Figure 5 also compares the new-generation radars with ABM radars near Moscow, at Naro-
Fominsk (DOG HOUSE) and at Chekhov (CAT HOUSE). The faces of the Moscow radars, which are
assessed to have a battle management function, are inclined at 25?. This angle enables the radars to
RCA-0210001184
detect targets at the horizon and track them until ABM intercept radars can continue the tracking.
(S/W N)
22. Figure 5 also shows an artist's concept of the large pyramid-shaped ABM phased-array radar
under construction at Pushkino, just north of Moscow. This radar is believed to be intended for use as an
ABM missile guidance/intercept radar. The 30? inclination angle of its four faces will allow the radar to
track incoming RVs at medium to high angles, after tracking data has been handed over from the battle
management radars, and to guide ABM missiles to intercept. (S/WN)
COMIREX C01
Project 544033B
-5-
SECRET
WNINTEL
Z-14002/84
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CHEKHOV RECEIVERS CHEKHOV TRANSMITTERS
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Secret
Secret
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