Ukraine's military destroyed a high-value Russian counter-battery radar system using advanced precision-guided artillery shells, according to new footage.
In a clip circulating on social media, what appears to be an Excalibur precision-guided 155mm artillery shell strikes a Russian Zoopark-1 1L219 counter-battery radar system, causing a dramatic fireball.
Newsweek could not independently verify the location or time of filming of the video. The Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries have been contacted for comment via email.
Ukraine's military frequently publishes footage of successful strikes on Russian military targets, including its counter-battery radar systems. On March 23, the country's special forces released a clip showing Kyiv's fighters destroying a Zoopark-2 radar reconnaissance system at an unspecified location in the contested Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the special forces said it was a "costly target causing significant trouble for our troops." The Zoopark system detects Ukrainian artillery targets, such as multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars, he told Ukrainska Pravda at the time.
Referencing this footage, the British Defense Ministry tweeted an intelligence briefing on March 31 that both Kyiv and Moscow have constantly looked to take out one another's counter-battery radars.
"These systems are relatively few in number," the government department wrote, but they can be a significant weapon for commanders to find and target enemy artillery. However, the counter-battery systems are open to strikes because they have an active electromagnetic signature the enemy can trace, the U.K. Defense Ministry tweeted.
Destruction of a russian Zoopark-1 1L219 counter-battery radar system with the help of a Excalibur 155 mm extended-range guided artillery shell pic.twitter.com/gEwMAzpwxj
— Mr. Parrot ™ (@parrot_soldier) July 23, 2023
At the end of March, Russia had lost at least six Zoopark-1M. The country had "likely only has a very limited number left in Ukraine," the U.K. said. Russia will "struggle" to boost its counter-battery radar stocks because they require high-tech electronics which have been targeted by sanctions, the U.K. added.
As of Monday, Russia had lost around a dozen Zoopark systems of various types in Ukraine, according to Dutch open-source intelligence outlet Oryx.
Excalibur shells use GPS guidance and an inertial navigation system, making the artillery projectiles resistant to jamming efforts, according to the U.S. military. They are programmed with coordinates before being fired, and the projectile glides toward its target.
It is a true precision weapon, according to defense manufacturer Raytheon Technologies. It co-produces the artillery shell along with British defense giant, BAE Systems. The hardware has a range of around 25 miles, and can target with an accuracy of about 6 feet.
Compatible with every howitzer with which it's been tested, it can take at least 10 conventional munitions to accomplish what one Excalibur weapon can, Raytheon said.
In September 2022, previously-undisclosed Pentagon documents showed the U.S. had provided Ukraine with Excalibur shells. The Defense Department, while not specifying how many Excalibur artillery shells have arrived in Ukraine, has said that the U.S. has sent over 7,000 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds to Kyiv in aid packages.
