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Russian Space Forces (VKS)
Encyclopedia
The Russian Space Forces is the branch of the Russian Military
responsible for military space operations. Established on August 10, 1992, following the breakup of the Soviet Union
and the creation of the Russian Armed Forces, the organisation shares control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome
with the Russian Federal Space Agency
. It also operates the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
and the Svobodny Cosmodrome
.
were established on 7 May 1992, enabling the creation of Russian Space Forces later that year on 10 August. In July 1997 the Space Force was dissolved as a separate service arm and incorporated to the Strategic Rocket Forces
along with the Space Missile Defence Forces (Russian: Ракетно-космическая оборона), which previously were part of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. In the view of some experts, this was a mistake that prevented the Russian military from developing space-based capabilities. Russian Public TV said of the merger:
The Russian Space Forces were officially reborn on June 1, 2001 as an independent section of the Russian military. They regained independence under one of the many military reorganisation plans of the mid-late 1990s. Colonel General
Anatoly Perminov
was appointed to lead the new Space Forces. He was succeeded by General Vladimir Popovkin
in 2004.
space vehicles, like the new Persona
reconnaissance satellite. For example, the Space Forces operate the GLONASS
global positioning system; commander of the Space Forces Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin said in January 2006 that 18 GLONASS satellites would be in orbit by 2008, In October 2010 the system became fully operational.
Formations of the Space Forces include the 3rd Missile-Space Defence Army, and a Division of Warning of Missile Attack, both with their headquarters at Solnechnogorsk
near Moscow. Installations include the Qabala Radar
in Azerbaijan
, along with a number of other large warning radars, and the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system
which protects Moscow.
There is also an optical tracking facility, the Okno (Window) complex, near the town of Nurek
in central Tajikistan
,38.281°N 69.225°E that is intended to monitor objects in space. The Okno is capable of tracking objects 40000 kilometres (24,854.9 mi) from Earth, the space forces said in a statement carried by the Interfax-Military News Agency when it was put on duty in 2002. The facility involves telescope-like equipment housed in several large spheres, similar to the U.S. GEODSS system.
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the military services of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR...
responsible for military space operations. Established on August 10, 1992, following the breakup of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the creation of the Russian Armed Forces, the organisation shares control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
with the Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
. It also operates the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...
and the Svobodny Cosmodrome
Svobodny (launch site)
Svobodny was a Russian rocket launch site used since 1996 and located at 51 degrees north in the Amur Oblast. Originally constructed as a launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles called Svobodny-18, it was planned as a replacement for Baikonur Cosmodrome, which became a foreign...
.
History
In 1967 the Troops of Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Defence was formed under General-Lieutenant of the Artillery Yu. Votintsev. They were reorganised as the Ministry of Defence Space Units in 1982. In 1991 the Soviet Union was broken up. The Armed Forces of the Russian FederationArmed Forces of the Russian Federation
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the military services of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR...
were established on 7 May 1992, enabling the creation of Russian Space Forces later that year on 10 August. In July 1997 the Space Force was dissolved as a separate service arm and incorporated to the Strategic Rocket Forces
Strategic Rocket Forces
The Strategic Missile Troops or Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or RVSN RF , transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii, literally Missile Troops of Strategic Designation of the Russian Federation) are a military branch of the Russian...
along with the Space Missile Defence Forces (Russian: Ракетно-космическая оборона), which previously were part of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. In the view of some experts, this was a mistake that prevented the Russian military from developing space-based capabilities. Russian Public TV said of the merger:
The Russian Space Forces were officially reborn on June 1, 2001 as an independent section of the Russian military. They regained independence under one of the many military reorganisation plans of the mid-late 1990s. Colonel General
Colonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Anatoly Perminov
Anatoly Perminov
Dr. Prof. Anatoly Nikolayevich Perminov is a Russian rocket scientist and a mechanical engineer. He served as the General Director of Russian Federal Space Agency in 2004–2011.-Career:...
was appointed to lead the new Space Forces. He was succeeded by General Vladimir Popovkin
Vladimir Popovkin
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Popovkin is the General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency and First Deputy Defense Minister of Russia. He is a retired General of the Army and former commander of the Russian Space Forces.- Biography :...
in 2004.
Organization
The main tasks of the Russian Space Forces are informing the higher political leaders and military commanders of missile attacks as soon as possible, ballistic missile defence, and the creation, deployment, maintenance and control of in-orbitOrbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
space vehicles, like the new Persona
Persona (satellite)
Persona is a class of Russian reconnaissance satellites, derived from the Resurs DK class of remote sensing satellite, itself derived from the Soviet Yantar reconnaissance satellites...
reconnaissance satellite. For example, the Space Forces operate the GLONASS
GLONASS
GLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces...
global positioning system; commander of the Space Forces Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin said in January 2006 that 18 GLONASS satellites would be in orbit by 2008, In October 2010 the system became fully operational.
Formations of the Space Forces include the 3rd Missile-Space Defence Army, and a Division of Warning of Missile Attack, both with their headquarters at Solnechnogorsk
Solnechnogorsk
Solnechnogorsk is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, the administrative center of Solnechnogorsky District. It is situated on the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Highway and the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway, on the coast of Senezh Lake, north-west from Moscow. Population: Originally, there was a village...
near Moscow. Installations include the Qabala Radar
Qabala Radar
The Qabala Radar or Qabala Radar Station is a Daryal-type bistatic phased-array early warning radar, built by the Soviet Union in the Qabala district of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1985 located at...
in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, along with a number of other large warning radars, and the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system
A-135 anti-ballistic missile system
The A-135 or ABM-3 anti-ballistic missile system is a Russian military complex deployed around Moscow to counter enemy missiles targeting the city or its surrounding areas. It became operational during 1995...
which protects Moscow.
There is also an optical tracking facility, the Okno (Window) complex, near the town of Nurek
Nurak
Nurek is a city in the Khatlon province of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Vakhsh River, 885 m above sea level, and is 70 km southeast of Dushanbe, the capital...
in central Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
,38.281°N 69.225°E that is intended to monitor objects in space. The Okno is capable of tracking objects 40000 kilometres (24,854.9 mi) from Earth, the space forces said in a statement carried by the Interfax-Military News Agency when it was put on duty in 2002. The facility involves telescope-like equipment housed in several large spheres, similar to the U.S. GEODSS system.
3rd Missile-Space Defence Army
- 1st Division of Warning of Missile Attack - HQ: Solnechnogorsk
- East Headquarters - Komsomolsk-na-Amure
- West Headquarters – Kurilovo (Serpuhov-15)
- Radar Site (ORTU) RО-1 Olenegorsk - Radar Dnepr (Hen House)
- Radar Site RО-5 - Beregovo, Ukraine - Radar Dnepr/Daugava (Hen House, under Ukrainian control, all Ukrainian personnel)
- Radar Site RО-4 - Nikolaev, SevastopolSevastopolSevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
area, Ukraine - Radar Dnepr (Hen House, under Ukrainian control, all Ukrainian personnel) - Radar Site ОS-2 - Balhash, Kazakhstan - Radar Dnepr (Hen House)
- Radar Site ОS-1 - Mishelevka, Irkutsk OblastIrkutsk OblastIrkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...
- Radar Dnepr (Hen House) - Radar Site RО-30 - Pechora - Radar Daryal (Pechora)
- Radar Site RО-7Qabala RadarThe Qabala Radar or Qabala Radar Station is a Daryal-type bistatic phased-array early warning radar, built by the Soviet Union in the Qabala district of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1985 located at...
- GabalaQabalaQabala is a rayon of Azerbaijan. Its administrative center is the historic town of Qəbələ, which in ancient times was known as the capital of Caucasian Albania....
, Azerbaijan - Radar Daryal (Pechora) - Radar Site GantcevichiHantsavichy RadarThe Volga-type Radar near Hantsavichy is an early warning radar system which is part of the Russian Space Forces . According to a treaty signed on January 6, 1995 between Russia and Belarus, all the immovable property and the occupied area were given to Russia for temporary usage for 25 years with...
, Belarus - Radar Volga - Radar Site - Komsomolsk-na-Amure - Radar Duga-2Duga-1 and Duga-2Duga-1 and Duga-2 were Soviet experimental over-the-horizon radar systems. They were developed for the Soviet ABM early-warning network. Both of these radar systems were aimed east and were fairly low power. They were predecessors of the Duga-3 or "Steel Yard" OTH system, which operated from...
(Steel Yard) - Radar Site Sofrino, in common with PRO - Radar Don-2 (Pill Box)
- 9th Division of Defence Against Missiles - HQ: Sofrino (A-135 anti-ballistic missile systemA-135 anti-ballistic missile systemThe A-135 or ABM-3 anti-ballistic missile system is a Russian military complex deployed around Moscow to counter enemy missiles targeting the city or its surrounding areas. It became operational during 1995...
)- Missile Site - Novopetrovska - 51Т6
- Missile Site - KlinKlinKlin is a town and the administrative center of Klinsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Moscow. The M10 highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg and the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway run through the town. It was home to Klin air base during the Cold War. ...
- 51Т6 - Missile Site - Shodna - 53Т6
- Missile Site - Turakovo (Aleksandrov) - 51Т6
- Missile Site - Korolev - 53Т6
- Missile Site - Litkarino - 53Т6
- Missile Site - Vnukovo - 53Т6
- Missile Site - Kolodkino - 51Т6
- Radar Site - Sofrino - Radar Don-2 (Pill Box)
- Radar Site - Stremilovo (Chehov-7) - Radar Dunay-3UCat House radarThe Cat House Soviet radar system was part of the Soviet radar system originally based in the former Soviet Union, what is today Russia. The 'Cat House' system is a long range early detection radar built to detect American ballistic missiles fired at Moscow.-System:Cat House was one part of a...
(Cat House) - Radar Site - Kubinka – Radar Dunay-M (Dog House)
- 45th Division of Space Control - HQ: Noginsk area
- Optical Electronic Complex Okno (Window) - Object 7680 - NurekNurakNurek is a city in the Khatlon province of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Vakhsh River, 885 m above sea level, and is 70 km southeast of Dushanbe, the capital...
, TajikistanTajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
(see :de:Okno) - Laser Radar Krona ОРТУ- Zelenchukska, Cherkessk Area
- Also are used Radar Site Sofrino, Balhash, Mishelevka
- Optical Electronic Complex Okno (Window) - Object 7680 - Nurek