EVERYTHING BEGAN WITH «MOLNIYA»

Red Star. October 05, 2006. By Anatoly Dokuchaev

The Publishing Hose «Arms and Technologies» continues to work on the unique Encyclopedia «Russia's Arms and Technologies. The XXI Century Encyclopedia» in a cooperation with leading experts of the Russian defense industry and Defense Ministry, scientists and historians. The thirteenth volume «Control, Communication and Radio Electronic Warfare Systems» has been published. The Encyclopedia is being published under common supervision of Sergei Ivanov, the Defense Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. It is addressed to wide circle of specialists in weapons and military equipment.

At the present time, it is safe to say that the further qualitative modernization of Russia's Armed Forces will be performed with priority development of systems for control, communications, reconnaissance, and radio electronic warfare. It is notable that the book begins with the article «Significance, conditions and future development of control, communications and radio electronic warfare systems for Armed Forces of the Russian Federation» written by Army General Yuri Baluevsky, the First Deputy Defense Minister. He notes that today we are not ready yet for global modernization, but we must look ahead and endow intellectual, financial, economical and other resources in advance. Only at these conditions we will be able to create new army - the army meeting requirements of the XXI century. We can also learn this from the article «Future development of communications systems in automated control systems for Armed Forces of the Russian Federation» by Colonel-General Evgeny Karpov, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

It is appropriate here to make the first compliment to editors of the book. As it seems, the volume just published provides timely introduction to the spirit of the revolution in military art, corresponding aims of the institutional building in Armed Forces, and tactical employment of troops (forces). The existing command system of our army has been created during last decades of the XX century. Resulted from the effort completed by 1990, it was quite efficient and allowed fulfilling tasks facing the State and the Army.

At the present time, the control of troops (forces) is increasingly performed by means of integrated automated control systems, almost in real time. But even this is not enough because of a new revolution in military art. First of all, the revolution is related to development of information technologies, and forthcoming intellectual weapon systems and military equipment. The new volume of the Encyclopedia introduces all these processes.

The book systematically covers control and communications systems for Armed Forces. First of all, these include satellite communications which age began on April 23, 1965 when the first communication satellite «Molniya-1» has been launched. Satellite communications benefit from the possibility to organize simultaneous global connections between all parties. The new volume allows the readers to find out more detail about spacecraft («Molniya-1», «Molniya-3», «Raduga-1») and satellite transponders, satellite communication stations (R-440, R-441, R-439). Consider, for example, the station R-441. It allows strategic and tactical control links to communicate via satellite relays on geostationary and high-elliptical orbits. The design and engineering work on this system has been performed in 1988-1992. The system is in service since 1997. We can read about its capabilities, as well as about the stations included into a standard system.

Next, authors of the book describe communications and control vehicles used by Army Forces and give quite detailed introduction into command and staff vehicles, and combined transceivers (R-149BMR, R-145BM, BMP-1KShT, and others). The complete set of hardware for field communications manufactured by Russian defense industry was covered: almost 80 models of equipment for tactical, operational-tactical, operational, and strategic control links. There is a complete description of radio relay communications and troposphere scatter communications, information protection facilities, communication cables, and multiplexing equipment. The authors pay significant attention to improvements in real-time information networks.

A separate section covers control and communications systems for the Navy. It begins with the article «Control subsystem for Naval Strategic Nuclear Forces as the main element of the naval control and communications system» written by Vice Admiral Alexander Dolbnya, the Chief of Naval Communications Service, and a Deputy Chief of Naval General Staff for Communications. The reader has a possibility to know how the control subsystem for Naval Strategic Nuclear Forces was created, which is aimed to deliver control signals and commands to a strike subsystem - strategic missile submarines.

And then, the authors describe automated control systems for the Navy including systems for forces, combatants, and special-purpose systems. The reader has a possibility to study combat information and control systems, automated communications systems for ships and submarines including systems for mutual information exchange. Thus, the combat information and control system MVU-211, designed for automation of control over naval surface force, as well as for combat employment of ship weapons, is described in the book with its parameters. Operation of the system «More» installed in a headquarter ship was described as well. This system provides mutual information exchange between ships and digital information processing. Operating together with same systems on other ships of the naval force, it creates an information and command network which integrates all radars and weapons on ships of this naval force into a common automated control system for the naval force.

Turning the book leaves, we investigate into automated communications systems for ships and submarines. Thus, the communications system R-780 allows submarines to communicate with coastal command posts, surface ships, and naval aircraft. By means of automated workplaces it supports telegraph, telephone, and facsimile communications via radio channels. Existing versions of the automated communications system R-780 can be used on big submarines of various purposes. Versions of the system differ from each other in quantity of channel equipment. The volume describes ten automated communications systems and more than thirty other communications facilities used by the Navy.

Aviation systems for control and communications include both ground-based and airborne systems for communications, navigation, and identification; radio transceivers; navigation and data transmission systems. Note that significant part of this information was published for the first time.

Thus, it is the first time when the system of airborne command posts for Russia's Armed Forces was described. This system is aimed to increase the stability of control when ground-based command posts, nodes, and lines are out of order; and at the conditions imposed by dynamic operational environment. We can study objects of this system in detail - helicopters Mi-8; aircraft Il-86, Il-76, and Il-18 which is a base for the control and relay aircraft. Radio electronic warfare facilities including systems for radio electronic reconnaissance, protection against high-precision weapons, jamming, and others were covered in detail for the first time.

The following conclusion can be suggested here: the Russian defense industry is able today to create all required and up-to-date systems and facilities for reliable and efficient control over the Russian Armed Forces.

It is the first time when a huge section of the volume covers dual-purpose and civil systems for control, communications, and navigation. There are described posts for control and communications, satellite communications facilities, mobile radio telegraph communications, departmental and corporate communications facilities. For example, the multi-functional system «Gonets» for personal satellite communications provides transmission of digital information in packets and radio telegraph communications. The book describes capabilities of the system, as well as parameters of the spacecraft series «Gonets». Capabilities of satellite systems «Ruslan-RS» designed for communications, and «Yamal» designed for communications and broadcasting are also unique.

Note that the Volume is informative not only for those interesting with control and communications, and those working in this sphere, but also for business circles which need control, communications and navigation systems of high efficiency. And the book offers a wide selection of systems - about one hundred models: control posts; communication nodes; satellite communications facilities; mobile radio telephone communications and navigation; departmental and corporate communications facilities; signaling, commutation and data transmission facilities; optical and troposphere lines.

To be solid, the authors provide information about enterprises of the defense industry (owned by the State and joint stock companies) those manufacture a varied stock of systems for control and communications and are ready to consider various orders.

Models of weapons and military equipment are classified in the Encyclopedia according to the Common Classifier of Supply Items of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, compatible with foreign classifiers by its parameters. This allows Russian and foreign readers to navigate in the sphere of control and communications.

In fine, anybody who takes the book published now will find a lot of interesting materials and increase his intelligence level.