Sacked Russian top general exposed the counter-battery problem for the Russian army in Ukraine, British intelligence reported in its daily update on the Russo-Ukrainian war on 17 July.
After being sacked as commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army in Ukraine, General Major Ivan Popov complained about the lack of counter-battery provision for the Russian army on the front line in southern Ukraine, where his troops operated, according to British intelligence.
Russian ground forces’ survivability relies on effectively detecting Ukrainian artillery and striking against it, often with its artillery. Counter-battery radars, which allow commanders to locate enemy gun lines rapidly, are a vital component of this approach, British intelligence reported.
Russia has a shortage of counter-battery radars, especially its modern ZOOPARK-1M, a mobile passive electronically scanned array radar that tracks down enemy field artillery. Only a small amount of the deployed initially ZOOPARK-1M counter-battery radar systems are likely to remain operational in Ukraine, according to British intelligence.
Open-source footage showed another ZOOPARK-1M counter-battery radar being destroyed by Ukraine’s Armed Forces in early July 2023 near the area where Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army operates. General Major Ivan Popov’s priority to this problem highlights the continued centrality of artillery in the Russo-Ukrainian war, British intelligence concluded.
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