Gabala Radar Station | |
---|---|
Qəbələ RLS | |
Azerbaijan | |
Coordinates | 40°52′N 47°48′E / 40.87°N 47.80°E |
Type | Radar station |
Code | RO-7 |
Height | 100 metres (328 ft) receiver building |
Site information | |
Owner | Azerbaijan |
Controlled by | Azerbaijani Air Forces |
Open to the public |
No |
Condition | Closed |
Site history | |
Built | 1977 | -1985
Built by | Soviet Union |
Materials | concrete |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 428th independent Radio-Technical Unit (until closure in 2012) |
Gabala Radar Station (Russian: Габалинская РЛС, tr. Gabalinskaya RLS; Azerbaijani: Qəbələ RLS) was a Daryal-type (NATO Pechora) bistatic Passive electronically scanned array early warning radar, built by the Soviet Union in the Qabala district of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1985. It was operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces and closed at the end of 2012. The radar station had a range of up to 6,000 kilometres (3,728 mi), and was designed to detect missile launches as far as the Indian Ocean. The radar's surveillance covered Iran, Turkey, India, Iraq and the entire Middle East. It could detect the launch of missiles and track the whole trajectory to enable a ballistic missile defense system to intercept an offensive strike. The Radar Station hosted about 1,000 Russian servicemen with about 500 Azerbaijanis.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan negotiated the terms of the lease and in 2002 the two countries signed an agreement according to which Russia leased the station from Azerbaijan until 24 December 2012 for $7 million per year rent, $5 million per year for electricity and $10 million per year for other services.