Container radar


Container radar is the new generation of Russian over-the-horizon radar, providing long distance airspace monitoring and ballistic missile detection. The first radar, near Kovylkino, Mordovia, Russia, became operational in December 2013 and entered combat duty on 1 December, 2019. Another Container radar is planned to be deployed in Kaliningrad.

Description

The radar is capable of monitoring the airspace up to 100 km altitude and has range of 3000 km. It was developed by NPK NIIDAR, which is also a developer of Voronezh-DM radar. The chief designer was Valentin Strelkin. and the price of the system was 10 billion rubles.
The system consists of two separate antennas arrays: one for the transmitter and one for the receiver. The receiver antenna array contains 144 antenna masts, each 34 m high. The array has three sections: The inner section is 900 m wide with a 7 m spacing between masts, and the two outer sections are each 200 m wide with a 14 m spacing. The total array width is 1300 m. The receiver station has three of these arrays, arranged in an equilateral triangle. The transmitter antenna array has 36 re-configurable masts and is 440 m wide.
Radar signals were detected by some amateur radio operators in the 9.2–19.745 MHz frequency band. Pulse repetition rate is 50 pulses per second, bandwidth about 14 kHz, frequency modulation on pulse is used. The received signal has a sound similar to the Soviet early warning system Duga radar operated from 1976–1989, nicknamed "the Russian woodpecker".

Location

The receiving antennas are located 8 km south-west from Kovylkino, Mordovia, Russia .
The transmitters antennas are located 300 km from receiver, 5 km north from Gorodets town, Nizhegorodskaya oblast', Russia
. The system is aligned on bearing of 240 degrees to monitor airspace west of Russia.