Thanks to the previous work of Dani_bacsi in this thread and IspywmyEye, SOC, and others in this thread, four GAZELLE antiballistic missile launcher sites containing a total of 56 launchers have already been identified by GE users.

However, publicly available information on the web, although contradictory, suggests that there are more. While some sources say there are just four GAZELLE launcher sites, others say there are five; in addition, while some sources say there are 64 launchers, others say there are 68. (See, for example, the information at warfare.ru, missilethreat.com, and Pavel Podvig's Russian strategic nuclear forces webpage.) None, as far as I know, says that there are only 56.



Podvig's site and this Pentagon illustration both suggest not only that a fifth site does exist, but that it is situated in close proximity to the PILL BOX radar near Pushkino. Unfortunately, this area is only available in low resolution on GE. Nonetheless, I believe a launcher site can be discerned just outside the radar site's circular boundary in the northeast direction. The similarity in spacing and layout between this site and known GAZELLE sites is striking. All five sites are shown in the attached placemark file, along with a slightly higher resolution overlay of the PILL BOX site that is useful for making comparisons with the other GAZELLE sites.

Podvig reports only four launchers at the PILL BOX site, but the overlay appears to show 12. Added to the 56 launchers at the other sites, the latter figure would make a total of 68, equal to one of the two commonly reported totals for the GAZELLE system, so I suspect that 12 is the correct number. Thus, assuming the identification of the site is correct, the actual GAZELLE deployment would appear to consist of 68 launchers at five sites.

Tracking down the GALOSH/GORGON ABM sites also deployed around Moscow is likely to be harder, as they are all in low-res areas. But I think there is some potential to succeed at that, too.


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