The A-135 is a Russian anti-ballistic missile system deployed around Moscow to intercept incoming warheads targeting the city or its surrounding areas. The system was designed in the Soviet Union and entered service in 1995. It is a successor to the previous A-35, and complies with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
The A-35 anti-ballistic missile system was a Soviet military anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system deployed around Moscow to intercept enemy ballistic missiles targeting the city or its surrounding areas. The A-35 was the only Soviet ABM system allowed under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In development as of the 1960s and in operation from June 1972 until the 1990s, it featured the nuclear-armed A350 exoatmospheric interceptor missile. The A-35 was supported by two Dunay radars and the Soviet early warning system. It was followed by the A-135 in the early 1990s.
Baranavichy Radar Station is a 70M6 Volga-type radar near Hantsavichy. It is an early warning radar, which is run by the Russian Space Forces. It is designed to identify launches of ballistic missiles from western Europe and can also track some artificial satellites, partly replacing the demolished radar station at Skrunda in Latvia.
US-KMO, is a series of Russian, previously Soviet, satellites which are used to identify ballistic missile launches. They provide early warning of missile attack and give information for the Moscow A-135 anti-ballistic missile system. They were run by the Russian Space Forces and it was succeeded by the Aerospace Defence Forces.
The Daryal-type radar is a Soviet bistatic early-warning radar. It consists of two separate large active phased-array antennas separated by around 500 metres (1,640 ft) to 1.5 kilometres (4,921 ft). The transmitter array is 30 m × 40 m and the receiver is 80 m × 80 m in size. The system is a VHF system operating at a wavelength of 1.5 to 2 meters. Its initial transmit capacity was 50 MW with a target capacity of 350 MW.
The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces or Russian Air and Space Defence Forces (VVKO) was a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsible for aerospace defence, and the operation of Russian military satellites and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was established on 1 December 2011 and replaced the Russian Space Forces.
Voronezh radars are the current generation of Russian early-warning radar, providing long distance monitoring of airspace against ballistic missile attack and aircraft monitoring. The first radar, in Lekhtusi near St Petersburg, became operational in 2009. There is a plan to replace older radars with the Voronezh by 2020.
Dnestr radar and Dnepr radar, both known by the NATO reporting name Hen House are the first generation of Soviet space surveillance and early warning radars. Six radars of this type were built around the periphery of the Soviet Union starting in the 1960s to provide ballistic missile warnings for attacks from different directions. They were the primary Soviet early warning radars for much of the later Cold War. In common with other Soviet and Russian early warning radars they are named after rivers, the Dnestr and the Dnepr.
Oko is a Russian missile defence early warning programme consisting of satellites in Molniya and geosynchronous orbits. Oko satellites are used to identify launches of ballistic missiles by detection of their engines' exhaust plume in infrared light, and complement other early warning facilities such as Voronezh, Daryal and Dnepr radars. The information provided by these sensors can be used for the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system which defends Moscow. The satellites are run by the Russian Aerospace Forces, and previously the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces and Russian Space Forces. Since November 2015, it is being replaced by the new EKS system.
Mishelevka Radar Station is the site of three generations of Soviet and Russian early warning radars. It is located in Irkutsk in Siberia and provides coverage of China and missile launches from submarines in the Pacific Ocean. There have been seven radars at this site and it is run by the Russian Space Forces. In 2012 a new Voronezh-M radar is being built at the site.
Olenegorsk Radar Station is the site of a Soviet and Russian early warning radar. It is located near Olenegorsk on the Kola Peninsula, north of the Arctic Circle in north west Russia. It is considered to be a key part of the Russian early warning system against ballistic missile attack, and provides coverage of ballistic missile launches in the Norwegian Sea and North Sea. The station is operated by the Russian Space Forces.
Armavir Radar Station is an early warning radar station near Armavir in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is a key part of the Russian early warning system against missile attack and is run by the Russian Space Forces. There are two radars here - one faces south west and one south east. They provide radar coverage of the Middle East.
Pionersky Radar Station is an early warning radar station near Pionersky in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a key part of the Russian early warning system against missile attacks and is run by the Russian Space Forces.
EKSKupol is a developing programme of Russian early warning satellites as a replacement for the US-KMO and US-K satellites of the Oko programme. The satellites are designed to identify any possible future ballistic missile launches, from outer space, and complement early warning radars such as the Voronezh. This gives advance notice of a nuclear attack and would provide information to the A-135 missile defence system which protects Moscow, as well as other Russian missile defense and counterattack resources. Six satellites are planned to be initially orbited. The first of these was launched on 17 November 2015 and as of November 2022, all six of them are in service.
Yeniseysk-15 was the site of a disputed Soviet phased array radar near Yeniseysk in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia. The never operational Daryal radar installation was demolished in 1989 after the United States claimed it was in breach of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Serpukhov-15 is a military townlet near Kurilovo in Kaluga Oblast which is the location of the western control centre for Russia's Oko satellites. These give early warning of ballistic missile launches, mainly from the continental United States. The site is part of the Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning and information from here is processed at the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces centre in Solnechnogorsk and could be used, together with early warning radar such as the Voronezh, for launch on warning of the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system. A similar facility is located at Pivan-1 in the Russian Far East.
Pivan-1 is a military townlet near Komsomolsk-na-Amur in Khabarovsk Krai in the Russian Far East which is the location of the eastern control centre for Russia's Oko satellites. These give early warning of ballistic missile launches, mainly from the continental United States. The site is part of the Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning and information from here is processed at the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces centre in Solnechnogorsk and could be used, together with early warning radar such as the Voronezh, for launch on warning or the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system. A similar facility is located at Serpukhov-15 near Moscow.
Sevastopol radar station was a Soviet radar station providing early warning of ballistic missile attack. It is located between the Cape of Chersones and the auxiliary airfield "Chersones" in Sevastopol and was part of the Soviet missile attack warning system. Information from this station could be used for a launch on warning nuclear missile attack or to engage the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system.
Mukachevo radar station is a Ukrainian radar station, originally built during the Soviet period for providing early warning of ballistic missile attack. Currently it is the property of the State Space Agency of Ukraine. It is located in Shipka in the far south west of Ukraine and was part of the Soviet, and then Russian missile attack warning system. Information from this station could be used for a launch on warning nuclear missile attack or to engage the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system.
