Ukraine: NVK Iskra launches mass production of Zoopark-3 counter-battery radar.

NVK Iskra company started mass production of Ukrainian 1L220UK counter-battery radar, also known as Zoopark-3, company Director Yuri Paschenko announced. The first operational unit is scheduled for delivery to the Ukrainian Army by the end of the year.

1L220UK counter-battery radar, also known as Zoopark-3 (Picture source: Ukroboronprom)

“Delivery of the next one will be delayed due to the quarantine and is planned for early 2021,” Yuri Paschenko added. The exact quantity of radars ordered by the state is not disclosed, but it is known that up to ten units were scheduled for purchase during the initial stage of the project.

1L220UK is designed to discover the locations of enemy artillery positions. Thanks to a powerful radio locating station, it is capable to detect the shells, and the digital system reconstructs the flight trajectories of these. 'This allows to find out the accurate location of enemy guns, mortars, MLRS's and missile systems, as well as tactical missile launchers', Ukroboronprom stated. The capacity of the radar's digital active phase array antenna gives the opportunity to deploy the counter-battery radar in dozens of kilometers from the enemy position, observing the area in the sector of up to 180 degrees.

The 1L220UK counter-battery radar passed the field trials in April 2019 and showed performance above expected. The system was also presented on static display during the Independence Day of Ukraine.