Hantsavichy Radar Station

Hantsavichy Radar Station
Ганцавічы РЛС
Belarus
Volga radar at Hantsavichy
Hantsavichy Radar Station
Coordinates	52°51′N 26°29′E / 52.85°N 26.48°E / 52.85; 26.48
Type	Radar station
Site information
Controlled by	Russian Aerospace Defence Forces
Open to the public	No
Condition	Operational
Site history
Built	1982 (1982)
Built by	Soviet Union / Russia
In use	Since 2003
Garrison information
Garrison	474th independent Radio-Technical Unit

Hantsavichy Radar Station (Russian: Ганцевичи РЛС, Belarusian: Ганцавічы РЛС) (also described as Gantsevichi) is a Volga-type Radar near Hantsavichy (48 km from Baranavichy in Belarus). It is an early warning radar which is run by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. It is designed to identify launches of ballistic missiles from western Europe and can also track some artificial satellites, partly replacing the demolished radar station at Skrunda in Latvia.

The Volga was developed by NIIDAR from the Dunay-3U radar. Construction started in 1982 to counter the installation of Pershing II missiles in West Germany which were only 6 to 8 minutes away in flight time. These intermediate missiles were eliminated by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty which was signed in December 1987.

Work still continued on the radar even though the Pershing missiles had been removed. The radar was not compliant with the 1972 ABM treaty as this forbade multifunction radars. The Volga was in breach of this as it was designed to guide anti-ballistic missiles (an 'ABM radar') as well as acting as an early warning radar. As the United States had managed to get the Daryal radar at Yeniseysk demolished for being in breach of the treaty the Soviet Union removed ABM radar abilities from the Volga as it was being built.