Ukrainian rocket artillery hits Russian Zoopark-1M counter-battery radar

26 September, 2024 Destroyed Zoopark-1M. Source: 45th Brigade The aerial reconnaissance of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade spotted and adjusted rocket artillery at the Russian Zoopark-1M counter-battery radar in the East.

The brigade's press service released the video of the incident. The counter-battery radar was located near a forest plantation and was detected by a reconnaissance drone. Two missiles were fired at the Zoopark, one missed, and the other hit near the radar, severely damaging it.

After the second strike, the combat vehicle left the position, but a fire broke out on board and the crew abandoned it. Most likely, the radar was severely damaged by the debris, and the chassis may have burned out as a result of the fire.

Damage and destruction of Zoopark-1M

At the end of August, Militarny reported that operators of the Shark reconnaissance drone from the 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade "Black Forest" discovered a Russian Zoopark-M1 counter-battery radar in Zaporizhzhia.

The soldiers adjusted their fire, after which they struck the object with high-precision weapons. A GMLRS rocket destroyed the enemy installation with a direct hit.

Russian Zoopark-M1 counter-battery radar in Zaporizhzhia, August 2024. Photo credits: 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade

Earlier, in June, it was reported that cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with their colleagues from the Defense Forces, had destroyed an enemy radar station using FPV drones.

During the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Russians repeatedly lost counter-battery radars of this type. Data from the Oryx OSINT service indicate that the Russians lost two Zoopark (1L219), four Zoopark-1 (1L259), and fourteen Zoopark-1M (1L261).

Zoopark-1

Zoopark-1 is a Russian reconnaissance and fire control radar system. It is designed for reconnaissance and fire detection of ground artillery systems: cannon artillery and MLRS.

The system determines the positions of artillery using radar, detecting the trajectory of various ammunition during firing. The system can also be used to adjust the fire of its own artillery. The radar is mounted on the chassis of the MT-LB multipurpose tracked platform.

Russian Zoopark-1 counter-battery radar.

Photo from open sources

The radar itself has a phased array antenna that can detect up to 70 positions per minute and simultaneously track up to four targets.

The manufacturer claims that the counter-battery radar is capable of detecting positions of 120mm mortars at a distance of up to 17 kilometers, 105mm and 155mm howitzers at a distance of up to 12 kilometers, and launches from BM-21 Grad and BM-27 Uragan multiple launch rocket systems at a distance of up to 40-45 kilometers.