Armavir Radar Station

Armavir Radar Station (Радиолокационная станция (РЛС) в Армавире) 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 Aerospace Defence Forces. There are two radars here - one faces south west and one south east. They provide radar coverage of the Middle East.

The station is located on the former Baronovsky Airfield (аэродром Бароновский) 3 km south west of the village of Glubokiy and 12 km south west of Armavir.

The station was described as starting to operate at the end of 2006 and then entering "experimental combat mode" in 2008. On the day in 2009 that Russia lost coverage from radars in Ukraine it was announced that it had "begun operations". In May 2012 it was announced that it would go on combat duty before the end of 2012. In December 2012 it was announced it will be in the first quarter of 2013.

It was developed by NIIDAR (НИИДАР) and was built by Spetsstroy (Федеральное агентство специального строительства, also called Спецстрой России). Equipment installation was performed by Spetstehmontazh (Спецтехмонтаж).

Voronezh radar
Voronezh radar are highly prefabricated radars needing fewer personnel and using less energy than previous generations. There are two being built in Armavir and they are described as Voronezh-DM, a UHF radar with a stated range of 4200 km.

One of the radars, facing southwest, replaces the coverage lost by the dispute with Ukraine over the Dnepr radars in Mukachevo and Sevastopol. The other, facing south east, can replace the Daryal radar in Gabala although it is further behind in construction.

Armavir and Gabala
Russia has a large early warning radar station, a Daryal radar, in Gabala in Azerbaijan. It provides coverage of the Middle East, Iran and Iraq. It was built during the Soviet Union and ended up in the now independent state of Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia leases the station from Azerbaijan and the lease is due to expire at the end of 2012. Public negotiations on the future of the station are concerned with geopolitical issues and the increase in annual rent from $7 million to $300 million USD.

Data from Armavir, together with Gabala was offered to the United States as part of the negotiations over Russian opposition to US missile defence in Europe. Armavir is close to Iran, like Gabala, and also provides intelligence on missile activity in the Middle East.

Armavir cannot completely counter the loss of Gabala. Gabala is further south and has a longer range. Armavir may also be affected by the Caucasus Mountains.

In 2007 Vladimir Popovkin, then commander of the Russian Space Forces, said that Gabala, together with Balkhash in Kazakhstan and the two stations in Ukraine, cannot be relied upon as Russia cannot be sure it will have access to them in periods of international tension and war.

2013 ballistic launch in Mediterranean
On 3rd September 2013 Armavir detected two US/Israeli ballistic test launches in the Mediterranean towards Syria.