Status Of The Russian Radar Station In Azerbaijan.

Qabala Radar Station, Azerbaijan (Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin)

   Qabala Radar, named after the homonymous city in the northern Azerbaijan, is a Daryal (or Pechora) type of radar, whose construction started in 1978 and completed in 1984 by the USSR, entering service in 1985. The Daryal type is bistatic and uses the phased-array technology. It belongs to the category of the early warning radars and occupies an area of 210 hectares. It's range is 3.728 miles or approximately 6.000 kilometers, able to detect missile launches even from Indian Ocean. It gives also the opportunity for enabling a missile defense, since it is able to detect the missile's trajectory. The Qabala Radar Station hosts about 1000 Russian servicemen, and the whole station, including the 30 hectares garbage dump, covers an area of 240 hectares. 

   In 2002, negotiations between Russia and Azerbaijan governments, resulted into a lease plan according to which, Russia would be able to keep operating the Qabala Radar in favor of its early-warning defense system until 2012. According to sources, the annual payment agreed was 7 million US dollars. 

   Vladimir Putin, the president of Russian Federation, watching the debates of the USA about planning to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Eastern Europe with the excuse of the possible hostility of Iran, Iraq and North Korea, offered to the US the chance of a cooperation in this defense section by providing the Qabala Radar as a substitute to the initial USA plan that included a radar system in Czech Republic and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland. In September 2007, an experts' delegation from USA, visited the Qabala Radar and was given an extended tour to the facilities. After that, the head of the delegation, General Patrick O'Reilly, mentioned that there were no formal negotiations, adding that the visit took place in order for the US to fully understand the nature and details of the Russian proposal. Although, United States ended up rejecting this proposal, claiming that the existing radar system was not sophisticated enough to cover the demands of their anti-ballistic missile plan. They also insisted in going on with their plan about Czech Republic and Poland, a decision that has been made clear during the meeting between Putin and Bush, when the latter said that “the Czech Republic and Poland need to be an integral part of the system”, in International Herald Tribune. 

   As the leasing plan of the Qabala Radar Station approaches to its deadline, Russia starts negotiations with Azerbaijan about expanding the agreement. Within the proposals of the Federation are the “[...] plans for the modernization of the radar station,” as Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov have said to RIA-Novosti. 

     Latest Updates

   However, according to latest updates, Baku demands a serious rise in the annual rent, by tens of times, causing confusion and reactions to Moscow. Sources mention that the demanded rent for the contract to be renewed -until 2025 as Russia wishes- is around $300 million per year. Taking under consideration that until now, Russia had to pay $7 million per year, this rise, along with the cost of the necessary repair and maintenance, leads the Russian Defense Ministry to no other alternative than quitting the project and Russia's presence in Qabala, if the economic terms of Azerbaijan remain intransigent.

For an extended research of the Russian Radar Station in Azerbaijan, see Black Sea Military Dynamics: the Reemergence Of Russia.