India Nears $4B Deal for Russian Voronezh Over-the-Horizon Radar System

8 December, 2024 Illustrative photo of the Voronezh-M radar. Photo from open sources India and Russia are working to finalize an agreement on India's purchase of a Voronezh-type over-the-horizon radar.

This was reported by The Sunday Guardian. The deal is expected to be worth more than £4 billion. At the same time, according to the newspaper's sources, at least 60% of the system will be produced by Indian enterprises, in accordance with the Indian initiative "Made in India".

In November, a ten-member delegation from the Russian corporation Almaz-Antey, known for producing over-the-horizon radars, visited India. The delegation, led by Deputy Chairman of the Board Vladimir Medovnikov, aimed to advance negotiations on the agreement. It is not yet known whether the current version of the radar used by Russia will be purchased, or whether India has put forward any requirements to adapt the system to its specific requirements.

It is also unclear what version of the radar the Indians plan to purchase. The future radar is expected to be deployed near the city of Chitradurga, Karnataka, in southern India.

Voronezh-type radar

77Ya6 Voronezh is a family of Russian long-range stationary over-the-horizon radars. They are designed to detect space objects, as well as ballistic and, to a limited extent, cruise missiles.

However, these radars are primarily designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles flying in near space. The family consists of stations in the meter, decimeter, and centimeter wave bands. Long-wave stations provide a longer range of object detection, while short-wave stations allow for more accurate target location.

One station provides a detection range of up to 6,000 km horizontally and 7,000 vertically, while simultaneously tracking up to 500 targets.

In May 2024, Ukrainian long-range kamikaze UAVs hit two Voronezh-DM radars near the village of Gluboky in Krasnodar Krai.