Ukrainian soldiers fire toward Russian position on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 24, 2023.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File
Both Ukraine and Russia rely on counter-battery radars to strike each other’s artillery.
But Moscow’s troops face a shortage of critical radars that has only worsened during the war.
Britain’s defense ministry said Russian forces likely only have a few key systems remaining.
Relentless and brutal artillery battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces are a key feature of ongoing fighting, leaving both sides dependent on counter-batter detection to find and attack enemy fire.
But Moscow’s troops lack enough critical radars to defeat Kyiv’s artillery, with only a few hard-to-replace systems likely remaining, according to a new Western intelligence assessment.
Ukrainian forces executing counteroffensive operations in the occupied eastern and southern regions are facing stiff and vicious Russian defensive lines, including elaborate fortifications like hardened trenches, sprawling minefields, and concrete anti-armor structures.
For ground troops to surmount these obstacles means navigating through a slow and deadly process, and Ukrainian forces lack air superiority. So Kyiv is leaning heavily on weapons like howitzers or the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to hit Russia’s heavy guns, command and control locations, logistics and communications sites, and troop positions.
“Russian ground forces survivability relies on effectively detecting Ukrainian artillery and striking against it, often with its force’s own artillery,” Britain’s defense ministry said in a Monday intelligence update. “A key component of this approach is counter-battery radars, which allow commanders to rapidly locate enemy gun lines.”
A BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fires towards Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on April 23, 2023, amid the Russian invasion on Ukraine.
SERGEY SHESTAK/AFP via Getty Images)
But the defense ministry noted that Russia is “suffering from a worsening shortage of counter-battery radars, especially its modern Zoopark-1M. Only a handful of the originally deployed Zoopark fleet are likely to remain operational in Ukraine.”
According to an analysis by the open-source intelligence site Oryx, at least 38 Russian radars have been destroyed, damaged, or captured in Ukraine. This includes as few as eight Zoopark-1Ms, high-value systems that allow Russia to track and detect Ukrainian munitions, though they are vulnerable to detection because of their active electromagnetic signature.
A counter-battery radar is designed to detect incoming fire and almost immediately estimate the position from which it was fired, allowing artillery to rapidly return fire before the enemy crews move their guns.
Britain’s defense ministry said Ukrainian forces earlier this month had destroyed a Zoopark near the location of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army (58 CAA), which is fending off Ukrainian advances along the southern Zaporizhzhia region’s front lines.
The unit was previously under the command of Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, who was recently removed from his post after he called attention to Russia’s lack of counter-battery and artillery reconnaissance capabilities, which he said has led to Moscow’s troops suffering widespread casualties on the battlefield. Ultimately, the Kremlin’s military leadership decided it was better to fire Popov instead of actually deal with his concerns.
“The priority Popov apparently gave to this problem highlights the continued centrality of artillery in the war,” Britain’s defense ministry said.
Ukrainian service members of the 55th Separate Artillery Brigade fire a Caesar self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the town of Avdiivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 31, 2023.
REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Despite being heavily armed by the West, Ukraine has still found itself outgunned at times during the artillery duels with Russia and has lost a combined 69 radars and communications systems, including several variants of the US-provided AN/TPQ radars, according to data compiled by Oryx.
To fight these never-ending artillery battles, Ukraine is rapidly burning through its stockpiles of artillery ammunition while also facing strained domestic production from its NATO backers. To help alleviate the dwindling supply, the Biden administration announced earlier this month that it will send Kyiv’s military deadly — albeit controversial — cluster munitions.
“We base our security assistance decision on Ukraine’s needs on the ground, and Ukraine needs artillery to sustain its offensive and defensive operations,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in announcing the munitions as part of a new security assistance package.
“Artillery is at the core of this conflict,” he added. “Ukraine is firing thousands of rounds a day to defend against Russian efforts to advance and also to support its own efforts to retake its sovereign territory.”