2024-04-20 20:18:16
On Wednesday, Ukrainian media, citing sources in Ukraine’s military intelligence, reported that Kiev’s drones had struck an object in the Russian Republic of Mordovia, the 29B6 Konteiner over-the-horizon radar. Russian and Ukrainian sources also reported that on April 11 A Kiev drone attacked this facility in Mordovia.
On Wednesday, the governor of the Mordovia region, Artyom Zdunov, said that a Ukrainian drone “again attacked an object in Mordovia” around 1:00 a.m. local (8 a.m. Lithuanian) time. According to him, the Russian air defense shot down the drone.
However, the VČK-OGPU Telegram channel, which claims to have inside information from Russian security forces, said “the attack was successful and now the Russian over-the-horizon station is down.”
The unique 29B6 Konteiner radar is part of Russia’s early warning system to detect threats approaching thousands of kilometers away, such as long-range ballistic missiles. According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the system can monitor the launch of cruise and hypersonic missiles and the takeoff of aircraft at a distance of about 3,000 kilometers.
The radar is located near the town of Kovylkino, southeast of Moscow, several Ukrainian media reported. It is about 600 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The aforementioned source claims that this radar is “the only over-the-horizon tracking radar of its kind.” in 2020 At the beginning of the year, Russian state media reported that the second Container radar would be located in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad – but Forbes describes the radar in Mordovia as Russia’s only west-facing over-the-horizon radar monitoring the airspace around Europe. He is worth 110 million. dollars, according to the publication.
“It will be extremely difficult to fill the gap” caused by the absence of the radar, according to the VČK-OGPU channel.
Over-the-horizon radars use the Earth’s ionosphere to reflect signals, extending detection by taking advantage of the curvature of the planet. They are used to detect potential threats far beyond the range of conventional radar systems.
Russian and Ukrainian sources reported an earlier attack by a Kiev drone on a facility in Mordovia and on April 11. Russia’s independent news agency Astra said two drones were shot down around the radar site.
April 11 Russia’s defense ministry said its air defenses had intercepted two Ukrainian drones over the Mordovia region – but did not provide further details on the location or target of the downed drones.
According to TASS, the Konteiner radar has been operating in the Mordovia region since 2019. at the beginning of December, Newsweek writes.
2024-04-20 20:18:16