Duga: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone pt. III
The Duga radar (Дуга), also known as Duga-3 or Chernobyl-2, is an OTH (Over The Horizon) radar array complex built in the 70’s and was in operation until 1989. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and its purpose was to detect and track intercontinental ballistic missiles that could eventually come from the United States in the heights of the cold war and give the soviets enough time to respond. As the name says, its over the horizon properties meant that it could send and receive signals from over the horizon line of sight (over the earth’s curvature). How was it done? First by its huge proportions: An array of 150 meters in height by 700 meters of extension; Second by transmitting over 10 Megawatts of power in the frequency range of 10Hz, thus generating very long wave lengths (aprox. 30000 Km) that would surpass the Earth’s curvature. This produced obviously a radio noise that could be heard almost anywhere in the world (10 Hz - 10 oscillations per second). Duga was then also known by the name “Russian Woodpecker”.
As mentioned earlier the complex was also a village (Chernobyl-2) which hosted buildings with control rooms filled with computers to process the signals; apartment buildings; schools; hospitals; kindergarten; sports-halls and so on. All to make the lives of those working and living there as convenient as possible (and keep it secret as well).
Even after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and only until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 this place was held in total secrecy and the world could only speculate its existence. In the following pictures we will see what is left not only of the radar itself, but also its hosting village.
Read MoreAs mentioned earlier the complex was also a village (Chernobyl-2) which hosted buildings with control rooms filled with computers to process the signals; apartment buildings; schools; hospitals; kindergarten; sports-halls and so on. All to make the lives of those working and living there as convenient as possible (and keep it secret as well).
Even after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and only until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 this place was held in total secrecy and the world could only speculate its existence. In the following pictures we will see what is left not only of the radar itself, but also its hosting village.
