10 most amazing military installations
In the field of creating devices for the destruction of their own kind of people, perhaps, it has reached perfection - the entire surface of the planet is littered with military objects: bases, fortresses, fortifications, rocket polygons and coastal artillery batteries ... Among them come across truly fabulous specimens - for example, the legendary Grum air base Lake, better known as the “51 Zone”. The Tyura-Tam missile range, which later became the Baikonur cosmodrome. The formidable decorations of many European cities are the “Luftwaffe anti-aircraft towers”. Daryal missile attack warning stations. 30-kilometer low-frequency transmitter ZEUS. Great Wall of China, finally.
This list could be endless, but exactly 10 positions are placed in the top ten. This review presents the 10 most rare, surprising and, to some extent, paradoxical of modern military facilities.
For example, the place where the aircraft of the world's first largest air force are stored in conservation is more than 4400 units aviation and rocket and space technology are arranged in even rows in the middle of the Arizona desert. Like terracotta warriors from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, the planes froze in anticipation of their time X.
Giant storage aircraft in the open air - is nothing like the Davis-Montana airbase, the location of the 309-th group for the repair and maintenance of aerospace equipment of the US Air Force (309th AMARG). Each "mummy" of the aircraft stored here is carefully wrapped with plastic film, the insides are carefully removed - the decommissioned aircraft is used as an object of "cannibalization" and a source of spare parts for the combat vehicles.
Serious work is in full swing in the hangars of Davis-Monthan - outdated Falcans and Phantoms are being converted into unmanned vehicles drones and aerial targets QF-4 and QF-16. Specialists in "aviation archeology" scrupulously poke around in the remains of old machines, the most "fresh" samples are selected for subsequent modernization and sale to third countries.
The airbase is a source of considerable income - according to the Pentagon, every dollar invested here brings 11 dollars of profit. And the fantastic landscapes of Davis-Montand themselves are in great demand among Hollywood directors (Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man).
Siachen
“Stop talking! Forward and up, and there ... After all, these are our mountains - They will help us! ”
The highest mountain war theater in the world, located on the body of the Siachen Glacier (Karakorum mountain range, Himalayas). The main danger of these places - 6000 meters of height above sea level, according to stingy statistics, 95% of servicemen who died on the Siachen Glacier were victims of unbearable climatic conditions in this realm of burning frost and discharged air.
Even grass does not grow here, but two irreconcilable adversaries continue their insane opposition at the utmost height. The toll of casualties in India and Pakistan is already on thousands; people are dying en masse when avalanches come down, thousands get frostbite, choke and disappear without a trace in the bottomless abysses of the glacier.
A quarter of a century ago, a true ice slaughter took place here, and most of the Siachen Glacier came under the control of India. The conduct of hostilities in such extreme conditions annually sucks up the 300 million dollars from the Indian treasury, but the Indians continue to stubbornly crush the enemy. To date, the Indian fortified area has about 150 outposts - the highest altitude checkpoints are located at altitudes up to 7 kilometers. Fear and icy horror.
The highest mountain helicopter base in the world. 6400 meters above sea level.
“The sunset shimmered like steel of a blade. My prey death was considered. The battle will be tomorrow, but for now
A platoon buried in the clouds. And left
on the pass ... "
HAARP
HAARP research project is not deprived of attention from various conspiracy therapists, schizophrenics and other overly impressionable citizens who see climatic, geophysical or psychotronic weapon.
Officially, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program is a program to study the Earth’s ionosphere using high-frequency radiation. The scope of the program is grandiose: a whole complex was built at the US Air Force Gakon test site (Alaska), consisting of 180 radio antennas located on an area of 13 hectares. Antenna field complements the incoherent radiation radar with a wavelength of 20 meters, a set of laser locators (lidars), magnetometers and a powerful computing center.
The declared radiation power of HAARP - 3,6 megawatts, the object is powered by a gas power station and six additional diesel generators.
A powerful tool allows you to stimulate certain parts of the ionosphere, like flashes of auroras. Officially - to study the nature of the ionosphere, the solution of applied radio communication problems on long waves, etc. innocent jokes with nature.
However, funding for the Pentagon and the deaf veil of secrecy around HAARP allow us to doubt the true purpose of the American "plasma gun". According to Russian experts, HAARP is designed to disrupt radio communications and radio navigation in any selected area of the Earth. With the help of HAARP you can disable the equipment of ships and aircraft, burn the radio-electronic filling of spacecraft. Also, the possibility of manipulating weather on a global scale is not excluded.
Critics of conspiracy theories, on the contrary, refer to the insignificance of the HAARP energy possibilities — the energy of processes in the earth’s ionosphere (for example, under the influence of the “solar wind”) exceeds the stated antenna power of the American installation by several orders of magnitude.
The global hysteria around the secret base in Alaska ended in an unexpected way - in May 2013, due to funding cuts, the HAARP project was announced discontinued.
SBX (Sea-Based X-band Radar)
Is it really? Mobile version of HAARP?
The strange construction is nothing more than a naval self-propelled radar base built as part of the US missile defense program. Nominally, the SBX is assigned to the Adah port in Alaska, but to date, the radar platform has never appeared there. Instead, SBX runs in the Pacific, where it performs missile defense tasks.
SBX is based on the CS-50 semi-submerged oil platform. Installation length - 116 meters. The height from the keel to the top of the radar radome is 85 meters (from the 25-storey house!). Displacement - about 50 000 tons. The platform is able to move independently over short distances - it is equipped with six 12-cylinder diesel generators Caterpillar with an output of 5000 hp each. each.
The main intrigue is hidden inside - under the white casing there is a giant radar with an active phased array with an area of 384 square. meter! The radar operates in the X-band, emitting pulses with a wavelength from 3,75 to 2,5, see. The power consumption of the AFX SBX is estimated at 1 megawatts.
It is reported that the vigilant station is able to “see” the North Korean ballistic missile’s warhead from a distance of 2000 km, and the unique mobility of the SBX makes it possible to deploy a missile defense system in any corner of the World Ocean.
Norfolk
"The harbor of a thousand ships." The world's largest naval base, whose countless marinas and docks stretch for 17 kilometers along the Atlantic coast.
Employees of the GVMB (the main naval base) Norfolk provide more than 3000 marine operations per year related to the meeting, mooring and departure of ships and vessels from dozens of countries around the world. Every six minutes, an aircraft from the Naval Station Norfolk airfield takes off or lands to land - airplanes Air transport commanders and chartered airliners of private airlines transport 150 000 passengers annually and deliver 260 000 tons of mail and various cargoes necessary for the base to function.
Norfolk - the main base of the Atlantic fleet The US Navy, from here operations are provided in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. In addition to numerous berths with handling facilities, warehouses, arsenals and oil storage facilities, Norfolk has a solid infrastructure for the maintenance and repair of marine equipment. Near the base there are 8 shipbuilding and ship repair yards with seven dry and three floating docks, as well as 16 slips - inclined coastal platforms for lowering ships from the berth or lifting them out of the water with the help of rail carts.
The area of the naval base and port reaches 26 square. kilometers The depth of the fairway passes 13-14 meters, which allows for the basing of ships of all existing classes.
At present, the Norfolk naval base is the home base for 75 warships of the US Navy, including: five Nimitz-type nuclear aircraft carriers, nine amphibious assault carriers, 29 missile cruisers and destroyers, and six atomic submarines and 15 ships of the Shipping Command.
Balaclava
Another example of a naval theme is the secret anti-nuclear shelter for Soviet submarines, officially known as the 825HTC Object.
At the beginning of the 1950-s, the leadership of the USSR decided to build an ultra-secure submarine station. In the event that the US Air Force succeeds in delivering a nuclear attack on Soviet cities, thus ceasing the existence of the Soviet Union, the festive banquet in the White House will not last long - from the foot of Mount Tavros (Balaklava, Crimea) will crawl out 7 "hell avengers" with nuclear torpedoes on board, and go with a return visit to the shores of Europe and North America.
The underground complex was built 8 years - from 1953 to 1961 year. The work was complicated by the strictest secrecy - the removal of the soil produced from the tunnels was carried out late at night, on barges to the open sea. In total, thus, managed to take 120 thousand tons of rock. Shelter class "A", able to withstand a direct hit warheads power 100 kt.
An additional condition for the safety of the underground base was the secrecy - the entrances to the tunnels were skillfully closed by camouflage nets, if necessary blocked by floating hydraulic gates with a mass of 150 tons.
To date, the object has largely lost its meaning - the dimensions of modern nuclear ships do not allow them to pass inside the tunnel. Ten years ago, on the site of the former underground submarine base, the Balaclava Naval Museum Complex was organized. By inspection, the zones around the artificial canal, which passes through the mountain, are opened, several workshops of the ship repair plant and a nuclear arsenal, where torpedoes and warheads were stored. Domestic and foreign tourists from Europe, the USA and other countries call the underground base "a miracle of engineering thought."
Edwards Air Base
Yankees do not feed hamburgers, just let me set some record. And for setting records, the bottom of the dried Rogers Salt Lake (California) is ideal.
Here in 1932, a specialized Air Force test complex was built, which later became the Edwards Flight Test Center. The Yankees cleared the bottom of the dried lake, drawing 13 runways of incredible length on its smooth, like a table, surface. The main attraction was the runway 18 / 36 (L, C and R) - the longest strip in the world with sizes 12 000 x 290 meters.
During the Second World War, Bell XP-59A Eyrakomet and German trophy V-2 were tested at Edwards airbase. In 1959, the 6-kilometer-long rail track was built for testing ejection seats and Polaris ballistic missiles. In the course of one of the “races,” the sledge rocket accelerated to 3,3, the speed of sound, then went off the rails and crashed.
Here a number of world speed records were set:
- October 14 1947 year, the Bell X-1 rocket glider under the control of Chuck Yeager for the first time reached a supersonic flight speed.
- In the period from 1959 to 1970, hypersonic X-15 rocket-gliders were flown. After separation from the carrier (B-52 bomber), the plane plunged into the sky, rising to suborbital altitude and developing 5-6 M speed. Record indicators were achieved in 1963: Joseph Walker managed to accelerate his X-15 to 6,72M, reaching in desperate " dynamic jump "altitude 107,9 km! After an insane 15 minute flight, the X-15 landed on the bottom of Lake Rogers.
SR-71, YF-12 and Valkyrie were tested here, from here Heav Blue (predecessors of F-117), B-2 stealth bombers, prototypes YF-22 and YF-23 of the future Raptor fighter bomber took off.
14 April 1981, an unusual guest arrived at the Edwards airbase (though how can you surprise the Flight Test Center staff?) - at 10: 20 local time, the Columbia shuttle crashed heavily on the bottom of a salty lake, opening a new space page in stories base record holder.
Mount cheyenne
The anti-nuclear bunker in the Rockies, a key control point in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) system. It was designed to coordinate the actions of the American armed forces in the event of a nuclear attack by the USSR.
The bunker is designed to protect against thermonuclear explosions with a power of 30 megatons. The entrance is an 1400-meter tunnel leading to the main gateway - a pair of 25-ton gates, which remain airtight with excessive external pressure 40 atmospheres.
Inside is an underground base with a computer center, rooms for meetings and recreation, a dining room, a medical unit, as well as an autonomous power station and water supply system. At the lower levels of the bunker, 1500 tons of diesel fuel are stored, and there are also 4 groups of batteries. Four tanks pumped 6,8 million liters of drinking water and 20 million liters of water for technical needs.
To prevent the collapse of the walls with a strong shake, 1380 springs with a mass of 450 each are integrated into the bunker design. Also, the integrity of the complex is provided by 115 thousand steel pins, twisted in granite to a depth of 2 to 9 meters.
The Cheyenne bunker reached operational readiness in 1966, and was used by the NORAD command over the past 40 years. In July, 2006, the decision was made to "hot" conservation of the complex, due to the inexpediency of its further maintenance in an active state. “Hot” conservation means that, if necessary, the functionality of the underground base “Cheyen” can be restored in full within a few hours.
Chernobyl-2
Mystical abandoned object in the vicinity of the emergency station.
Over-the-horizon Duga radar (5H32) missile attack warning systems were able to monitor the airspace over North America. For its distinctive sound on the radio, she received the nickname Russian Woodpacker (Russian Woodpecker) in the West.
The height of the masts of the low-frequency antenna - 150 meters; The antenna array length is on the order of 500 meters. With such dimensions, the “Arc” is visible from almost anywhere in the Chernobyl NPP Exclusion Zone.
The proximity of the Dugi site to a nuclear power plant is sometimes explained by the high power consumption of the radar (according to declassified data, Duga consumed about 10 MW).
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the presented object is only half of the Duga radar station. Chernobyl-2 is a receiving station with a phased antenna array. The Dugi transmitter is located in a completely different place, in 60 km from the receiver.
The tragic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant put an end to the further operation of the Chernobyl-2 system - most of the equipment was dismantled and removed to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where a similar station operated.
And the metal constructions of the “Chernobyl radar” shot up towards the sky continue to amaze desperate tourists, who dared to glance at the once regime military object of strategic importance.
Echelon
Hello from Edward Snowden!
A global radio intelligence system approved by an alliance of five Anglo-Saxon countries - the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (the Five Eyes project). With the escalation of the Cold War, many NATO countries joined the project - Norway, Denmark, Germany and Turkey.
To date, the Echelon system has developed into a giant network of listening devices. Particularly impressive are the large "field" stations - the white clusters of "balls", whose shells protect the sensitive equipment hidden under them.
Base Menwith Hill, Yorkshire, UK
The exact description of "Echelon" is classified, but according to a report by the European Parliament, dozens of ground radio interception stations on all continents of the Earth are relevant to this project, including the British Menwith Hill complex, Australian Pine Gap, similar facilities of the Misawa Air Base (Honshu, Japan), radio engineering complex on the territory of Buckley airbase (USA), etc., etc.
The head curator of the project is the former employer of a runaway spy Snowden - the American technical intelligence of the NSA.
“White domes” are capable of intercepting signals from commercial and military communication satellites, listening to any radio channels in a selected wave band, including mobile phone calls (however, this is possible only at a short distance, in direct line of sight).
In the Western media, there are regular allegations that the Echelon system, in addition to countering terrorism, tracking drug trafficking routes and conducting “habitual” radio intelligence in the interests of the military, is often misused. The impressive capabilities of the global "interception" system allow NSA employees to conduct large-scale operations in the format of international commercial espionage and invade the privacy of US citizens. A rather popular version of secret contacts with UFOs using these devices.
However, how it really is - is unknown. After all, even the name itself - “Echelon” is nothing more than a fiction of the media. NSA officials do not give any comments about the fields with "white balls".
Electronic intelligence systems in the Buckley Air Force Base (Colorado)
Information