The Ministry of Defense plans to deploy the space echelon of the Russian missile attack warning system by 2024. This was told by the commander in chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin.

The deployment of the orbital constellation of spacecraft is planned as part of the work on the creation of the Unified Space System (CEN), he explained in an interview with the publication "Red Star".

“The completion of the creation of the CEN will allow us to fulfill the tasks of global control of the surface of the globe, as well as increase the survivability of the combat control system in the conditions of interference counteraction,” Surovikin noted.

  • Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia Sergey Surovikin
  • RIA News
  • © Alexey Druzhinin

According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, in September of this year it is planned to complete tests of the space communications complex with Blagovest spacecraft in geostationary orbit, and in 2022 it is planned to begin deployment of the promising Unified satellite communications system of the third stage of the Russian Armed Forces. In 2023, the defense department expects to proceed with the deployment of a high-orbit space intelligence system. 

Space "Eye"

A unified space system should become an element of a common Missile Attack Warning System (SARS). According to the website of the Ministry of Defense, in the future, the TSA will become the basis of the space echelon of a missile attack warning.

The main task of both the CEN and the entire warning system is to detect the launch of enemy ballistic missiles, to transmit complete information about the missile launch, the attacked areas, the time before the arrival of combat units and the extent of the attack on command posts.

The warning system also generates alarms and transmits information about targets for the strategic missile defense and air defense system.

In addition, the SPRN system conducts reconnaissance of the parameters and combat capabilities of missiles of potential enemies during test launches and provides this information to the Ministry of Emergencies for the timely preparation of civil defense measures.

  • Launch of the American Minuteman III ballistic missile
  • Reuters
  • © US Air Force / Senior Airman Ian Dudley

The main parameters of the missile launch warning system were formed in the USSR by the beginning of the 1970s, in 1976 the complex took up combat duty. It included the Dniester and Dnieper radar networks deployed around the perimeter of the USSR. Subsequently, the Danube-3 and Danube-3U radars were also connected to the system.

Also, work did not stop on a high-orbit space-based detection system, designed to detect enemy launched ICBMs by the emission of engine flares.

The first such space system was called "Eye" (US-KS). Work on its creation began in the 1960s. The first-generation Eye complex took up combat duty in 1982. The system included US-K satellites operating in highly elliptical orbits and US-K satellites placed in a geostationary orbit. The development of satellites was carried out by the NGO named after S. A. Lavochkina, and the creation of the echelon of the space warning system - CRI "Comet" (in the past - OKB-41).

But, without waiting for the adoption of the system in operation, Soviet designers began to create a global space system for detecting rocket launches of a new generation. The new system was called "Eye-1" and was adopted in 1996.

However, to date, the warning system created in the Soviet era needs to be replaced, said military expert Yuri Knutov. 

“The challenge now is to create an order of magnitude more sensitive system that can detect missile launches even earlier than the Eye did,” the expert said in an interview with RT.

In turn, military expert Alexei Leonkov notes that the CEN is being created as the next stage in the development of military space technology based on experience.

“The new system consists of a group of satellites that will be in geostationary and geosynchronous orbits in such a way as to observe large areas of both land and sea surface. The system will allow you to respond to threats faster than the Eye system allowed, due to this we can talk not about a retaliatory strike, but about a counter strike. If the enemy launches ballistic missiles across Russia while they are in the air, Russian missiles will already be flying towards them, ”the expert explained in a comment to RT.

Work on updating the Russian orbital group of defense and dual-use is being carried out at a fast pace - over the past six years it has been updated by 80% and increased one and a half times. Such data was brought in May 2019 by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a defense meeting in Sochi.

In August 2019, the Ministry of Defense announced the launch of the new military communications satellite Cosmos-2539 into orbit. The satellite was launched into orbit by the Proton-M launch vehicle launched from Baikonur. 

Security Dome

The Russian satellite group of a missile strike warning received the name KA CEN “Kupol”. This was stated in the materials submitted in December 2019 by the Ministry of Defense for foreign representatives of the military-diplomatic corps accredited in Russia. During the briefing, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, Army General Valery Gerasimov, said that Russia launched the next CEN satellite in 2019, which significantly increased Russia's ability to detect ballistic missile launches. 

According to the website of the Ministry of Defense, flight tests of the CEN were launched in 2015 with the launch of the first spacecraft included in the new space warning system. In 2017 and 2019, the second and third spacecraft were launched.

To date, the CEN has already been put on pilot combat duty, with its help it has been possible to detect 64 launches of ballistic missiles, including 35 foreign ones, as well as 136 launches of launch vehicles.

“CEN has been put on pilot combat duty and already today controls missile-hazardous areas of ballistic missile launches in foreign countries and in the waters of the World Ocean,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, the CEN includes not only new-generation spacecraft operating in highly elliptical and geostationary orbits, but also space-rocket complexes for their launch, command posts that provide grouping control, reception and processing of information.

“According to its characteristics, the TSA is not inferior to the American space system SBIRS, and by solving the tasks of bringing control teams it will be unique,” ​​the Ministry of Defense emphasizes.

  • Launch of the Proton-M launch vehicle
  • RIA News
  • © CC "Yuzhny" / Roscosmos

As noted by Alexei Leonkov, the United States has a similar system, but is also going to create a whole space echelon of 36 thousand small satellites that will provide global monitoring of the launches of hypersonic weapons.

“The American system compared to the Russian one is quite voluminous and costly. Russia has placed its stake on quality, while the United States has placed its stake on quantity, ”the expert emphasized.

According to Leonkov, the deployment of the CEN Dome will help Russia withstand the challenges that arise at Russian borders.

“Washington has resorted to very non-peace-loving rhetoric, in the US military doctrine, Russia and China are called enemies number one. This background makes the creation of a new space warning system an especially urgent task for Moscow. Undoubtedly, the system will provide maximum strategic deterrence. At the same time, the new system will work on different principles than the old "Eye" system, and will allow it to respond to missile launches much more quickly, "the expert explained.

In turn, Yuri Knutov described the basic principles of this system.

“The system will analyze the type of fuel, the type of rocket, its characteristics and trajectory already at the time of launch. This information will be transmitted to the command post, and then to missile defense systems, such as the S-500. This is a unique system that can control both ocean and terrestrial space, ”the expert summed up.