MACHULISHCHI, 16 August (BelTA) – An early-warning radar station Protivnik-GE (adversary) is now part of the arsenal of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Command, BelTA has learned.
Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian army, First Deputy Defense Minister, Major-General Oleg Belokonev noted: “It is a historical moment for the radio warfare troops of Belarus. The radar will greatly improve the combat ability of the radio warfare troops and will increase their mobility, thus enabling a brand new level of national security.”
“The Protivnik-GE early-warning radar has passed the government acceptance tests. The first radar went online today. Another one will be commissioned early next year. In accordance with the army weapon program Belarus is supposed to get seven radars like that by 2020. One of them will be used to train cadets of the Military Academy,” said Major-General Oleg Dvigalev, Chief of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Belarusian army.
The Protivnik-GE early-warning radar is a highly automated system that incorporates state-of-the-art radio location, computing technologies, and engineering solutions. It is a modern mobile tridimensional radar station able to detect aerodynamic and ballistic targets in a combat environment and can track simultaneously up to 200 targets at an altitude of up to 150km as far as 450km.
The Protivnik-GE early-warning radar is designed to detect aerial targets and track strategic and tactical aircraft, aircraft missiles, and small-size low-velocity aircraft. “Detecting high-speed ballistic missiles is one of the most complicated tasks that modern radars face. The new radar is capable of doing the job. In many tactical and technical parameters the Protivnik-GE model is superior to all the other Belarusian radar stations in use. For instance, the new radar boasts unique protection against active, passive, and combined jamming thanks to its digital antenna array. Apart from that, Russian weapon designers have managed to increase the precision of detection of aerial targets and the measurement of their coordinates. The recognition of the target class is the most important advantage,” said Colonel Igor Nasibyants, Chief of the Radio Warfare Troops of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Belarusian army. In his words, once these radar stations are deployed, Belarus will have a complete radar surveillance system for non-strategic counter-missile defense purposes.
The radar station comprises a radar head and an autonomous power supply unit (a diesel power generator). It takes about 30 minutes to deploy for combat operation or switch to travel mode. “The radar station does not require a highly qualified crew due to the minimal number of operation modes and the highly automated equipment. For instance, the inbuilt fault detection system can easily find and localize malfunctions,” noted Igor Nasibyants.
Apart from that, the radar station offers a comfortable working environment for the operator. An effective life support system with soundproofing and electromagnetic radiation dampening allows the personnel to do quality work in a safe manner, concluded the Chief of the Radio Warfare Troops of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Belarusian army.
