Duga radar
 | |
|---|---|
| Frequencies | 7 MHz,19 MHz |
| Frequency Range | 7 MHz - 19 MHz |
| Mode | PM |
| Modulation | BPSK |
| ACF | — |
| Emission Designator | — |
| Bandwidth | 40 kHz,800 kHz |
| Location | Chernihiv/Chernobyl, Ukraine; Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia |
| Short Description | Duga (Russian: Дуга́) Soviet over-the-horizon radar, now defunct |
| I/Q Raw Recording | — |
| Audio Sample | |
Duga (Russian: Дуга́), referred to as STEEL YARD or STEEL WORK by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was a Soviet over-the-horizon radar system used as part of the Soviet missile defense early-warning radar network. The system operated from July 1976 to December 1989. Two operational Duga radars were deployed, one near Chernobyl and Chernihiv in the Ukrainian SSR (present-day Ukraine), the other in eastern Siberia. The Duga systems were extremely powerful, over 10 MW in some cases, and broadcast in the shortwave radio bands. They appeared without warning, transmitting a sharp, repetitive tapping noise at 10 HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz)., which led to it being nicknamed by shortwave listeners the Russian Woodpecker.
History[edit]
The Duga system was the first Soviet over-the-horizon radar system, designed to give a longer warning time in the event of a Western missile attack. The first experimental Duga system was built in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and was capable of detecting Soviet rocket launches from the Baykonur Cosmodrome, over 2500km away. The prototype Duga was built on the same site, and was capable of detecting launches aimed at the Novaya Zemlya archipelago from American submarines and missile bases in the Pacific.
The operational Duga radars were the Duga-1 array in Chernobyl and Chernihiv and Duga-2 near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East. Both were built in 1972 and the Duga-1 array was first detected in 1976 by amateur radio operators. Both operational Duga systems used paired transmitters and receivers, with the two transmitters located 60km away from the two receivers. Radio amateurs and NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization attempted to triangulate the position of the Duga-1 array, and reports erroneously attributed the location of the transmitter as Kyiv, Minsk, Chernobyl, Gomel or Chernihiv. In fact, the Duga-1 transmitter was located in the closed town of Lyubech-1 in Chernihiv Oblast.
Starting in the late 1980s, Duga signals became less frequent, and in 1989 the two arrays stopped transmitting altogether. Contributing factors to the shutdown of the Duga arrays include the end of the Cold War and the success of Soviet early-warning satellites. The Duga-2 radar was scrapped entirely, and the Duga-1 array still stands, though it is within the radioactive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and is unlikely to ever be reactivated.
