Remember when Ukraine destroyed an important Russia radar system in Crimea?

Radar systems are some of the most important weapons on the modern battlefield and are high-value targets that both Russia and Ukraine have focused on knocking out since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A recent strike took out a valuable Russian radar and had a big impact on the war.

On November 28th, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence reported an operation undertaken by the intel agency had successfully destroyed a rare and valuable Russian radar system in the occupied territory of Crimea. 

According to a Telegram post about the operation, a Podlyot-K1 radar complex worth an estimated $5 million dollars was destroyed outside the town of Kotovskoe. However, the report didn’t reveal how the system was destroyed. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @DIUkraine

The Podlyot-K1 is also known as the 48Ya6-K1 or Podlet-K1 and it’s an advanced mobile radar station that was designed to detect air targets flying at extremely low altitudes and can track as many as 200 targets at a time according to The Kyiv Independent. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

"The 48Я6-K1 'flying' mobile radar is used by the enemy to detect air targets at low and extremely low altitudes in a difficult obstacle environment,” Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence explained in its Telegram post, Newsweek reported. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Newsweek also reported the Podlyot-K1 has a maximum detection range of 180 miles or roughly 290 kilometers. Considering its range and design function, the Podlyot-K1 is the perfect system for tracking drones, missiles, and fighter jets. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0

The Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi noted that the Podlyot-K1 operates in conjunction with Russia’s S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems by providing information on targets to the long-range air defense weapons. 

Ukraine’s destruction of such an advanced radar system in Crimea was important because the peninsula is a key supply route for Russian soldiers operating in the southern part of the front but the region has many vulnerable bridges and roads according to Newsweek. 

“Crimean infrastructure has been a significant focus of Ukrainian attacks, with strikes against the Kerch bridge continuing throughout 2022 and 2023. Russia has since attempted to fortify the bridge with underwater barriers,” Newsweek’s Theo Burman noted. 

The recent decision at the time by President Joe Biden permitting Ukraine to use the U.S. long-range missiles on targets inside of Russian territory led some to say Ukraine might attempt to launch one of its American missiles at key infrastructure in Crimea.

As of November 29th, the Dutch open-source intelligence group Oryx, has verified via photo or video evidence that Russia has lost 5 Podlyot-K1s since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

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Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0