Vessels assigned to the Caspian Flotilla have recently received strategic importance, and, if necessary, they will be securely covered from air attack. The Russian Ministry of Defense has launched a Caspian radar company in the region. It is armed with modern radar P-18RT. They are able to detect a target at an altitude of several meters to tens of kilometers and provide guidance to the enemy detected aircraft and air defense missiles. In terms of its potential, this technique is not inferior to the newest early warning aircraft.
The Caspian unit was formed last year in 2018. It is deployed in Kaspiysk and is the main component of the air defense and missile defense of the Caspian flotilla. The company is part of the structure of the radio engineering regiment of the 4th army of the air force and missile defense. The company performs a scan of celestial space at a distance of several hundred kilometers and reports on the situation in the airspace to the headquarters of the flotilla.
P-18RT is a modification of the P-18 meter range radar. Its advantages include - automatic detection and tracking of the target, the definition of its coordinates.
The station is able to determine the location of jammers and transmit their location to management. The complex includes a hardware station, a car with an antenna installed on it and a power supply station. R-18 PT maintains performance in the temperature range from -40 to +50 degrees.
Radar shield
The Caspian flotilla includes Russian rocket ships, such as Tatarstan, Dagestan, Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich, and many others.
Since the distant times of the USSR, this compound has not received as much attention as the rest of the fleet. From a certain point, namely from the beginning of the military operation in Syria, the attitude changed dramatically. Ships capable of carrying Caliber cruise missiles were sent to the Caspian Sea. The launches and flight of these weapons to the locations of the terrorist bases were broadcast around the world. Russia has shown that it is able to get from its territory opponents who are in the Middle East or Central Asia.
Nowadays, along the perimeter of the Russian Federation, a complex of newest radars is being formed. The station, which became part of the Caspian flotilla, is one of them, the former deputy head of the Air Force for the joint air defense system of the CIS countries, Lieutenant-General Aytech Bizhev said.
He said that the P-18RT is a modernized station operating in the meter wave band capable of detecting high-altitude, high-speed and small-sized targets. It is required to increase the radar control in the south of the Russian Federation and over the Caspian Sea. Radar of this class allows you to detect any objects and identify their parameters.
The delivered radar will function in the needs of the 4th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense, expanding the possibilities for guiding fighters and providing air defense units with the necessary data.
Strategic sea
More recently, the equipment of the Caspian flotilla was made on the residual principle. The air situation was controlled by outdated P-15 radars, which were made for the Soviet Army.
The president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, notes that the Caspian countries have reached an agreement in principle to prevent the armed forces of other states from entering the Caspian Sea.
For our country, the south has become a zone where there are local military clashes and terrorist organizations, and therefore we are building up our military power there.
Given that there will not be ships from countries not related to the Caspian, Russia will use the sea to solve strategic tasks. Small ships fired on the terrorists in Syria from there, and this “long” arm will only increase. In addition, it should not be forgotten that the Caspian Sea is located not far from the Black Sea, where international tension is growing. Therefore, the strengthening of military power in the Caspian Sea will lead to the strengthening of Russia's position in the Black and Azov Seas.
General Ivashov added that it is likely that not only small ships will serve in the Caspian, but over time more powerful means will emerge, including those whose development began after the Russian Federation ceased to be bound by the INF Treaty.
