It is considered to be a key part of the Russian early warning system against ballistic missile attack, and provides coverage of ballistic missile launches in the Norwegian Sea and North Sea.

The military town for the station is called Olenegorsk-1 and is at the village of Protoki (Russian: Протоки).

6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the south east there was a military tropospheric scatter radio relay station.

[3] The Dnestr-M radar (NATO codename: "Hen House") was started in 1963 and completed in 1969, entering service in 1971.

The Daugava, which is still operational, was implemented in Olenegorsk to minimise interference caused by the Northern Lights.