Antey Russian Navy VLF station (RJH69)

 military, antenna, transmitter, VLF transmitter station

The 43rd communications node of the Russian Navy "Vileyka" (radio station "Antey") is a communications node that provides communication on ultra-long waves of the Russian Navy's General Staff with nuclear submarines on combat duty in the Atlantic, Indian and partially Pacific oceans. It also conducts radio-technical intelligence and electronic warfare and works in the interests of other types of Armed Forces and branches of the Armed Forces: the Strategic Missile Forces, the Air Force, Space Forces, etc., broadcasting signals of reference time within the framework of the Beta project. It is located in Belarus, 7 kilometres (4 miles) west of the city of Vileika in the Minsk region. The main purpose - the transmission of information coming from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia and the General Staff of the Navy to the submarines on combat duty in different areas of the Atlantic, Indian Oceans and parts of the Pacific. In addition to the orders of the naval authorities, the Antey signalmen also work in the interests of other types of the Armed Forces and branches of the Armed Forces: the Strategic Missile Forces, the Air Force, the Space Forces, etc., broadcasting signals for the reconciliation of clocks according to the reference system of a single time. This encrypted broadcasting is carried out in the range of radio frequencies (on ultra-long waves) due to the presence of a powerful 1000 kilowatt transmitter capable of providing long-distance communication at a distance of more than 10000 kilometres (6,000 miles). The station is a retransmitting signal amplifier. Equipped with a 1000 kW transmitter. The history of the radio station "Antey" began in the late 50s of the last century, when it was decided to build the second Russian Navy radio station. The fact is that at that time submarines with nuclear power plants entered service with the fleet, and then submarines with ballistic missiles. The effectiveness of their combat use was largely determined by the communication capabilities. This issue was discussed at the highest level, and as a result, the construction of a super-secret facility was started in the remote Belarusian forests 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of the city of Vileika. The construction was carried out on a huge territory of 600 hectares (1500 acres), several cement plants have been working for more than one year only in the interests of this large-scale project.
On January 22, 1964, the radio station "Antey" was put into operation 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the Belarusian district center Vileyka in the interests of the Soviet Navy. In September 1988, "Antey" was put on combat duty. Secrecy is secrecy, but it is impossible to hide 270-metre (900-feet) masts even in the forest. The transmitter and the Central Post of the unified Time system are equipped underground on the territory of the military camp in the depths of the forest. In the same place, towering above the tops of the tallest trees, the antenna complex, huge in area – about 400 hectares (1000 acres) – unwittingly gives out its location. In addition to these devices, the radio station "Antey" structurally includes a short-wave receiving and transmitting radio center located in Vileika and occupying several buildings. 350 officers and midshipmen of the Russian Navy serve at the node, as well as freelance citizens of Belarus who carry out paramilitary protection. 15 peripheral and 3 central masts hold a 900-ton antenna web hundreds of meters above the ground. The communication node consists of 15 lattice support masts (height 270 metres (900 feet)) and 3 "round" masts (height 305 metres (1000 feet)). The masts support an umbrella-type antenna web, which consists of stretched cables weighing 900 tons. "Round" masts are also transmitting antennas of ultra-long waves. Their diameter is 2.20 metres (7.20 feet) with a metal thickness of 2 centimetres (0,80 inches). Under each mast there is an antenna pavilion with a set of equipment that ensures the operation of the radio station. The premises of the radio station (technical building No. 1) are located in the fortification and are buried underground. They are autonomous and equipped with all the necessary life support systems. The current activity of the 43rd radio station of the 31st Central communications hub of the Navy, more familiar to the general public under the name "Antey", is regulated by the intergovernmental Russian-Belarusian agreement of January 6, 1995 on the procedure for the use and maintenance of this facility.
According to the international classification, this transmitter has the code RJH69.

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