Today's realities are as follows: artillery together with missile forces are the main and sometimes the only means of engaging enemy troops with fire at long distances. It is from artillery fire that the enemy suffers the greatest losses.
The state of the material base, the training of the personnel of this combat component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) indicate that the use of Ukrainian artillery has significant drawbacks, among which one can especially note the low efficiency of the artillery reconnaissance system. As a result, almost immediately after the end of the active phase of hostilities in the Southeast, the military started talking about the fact that the capabilities that are currently available do not make it possible to conduct reconnaissance over long distances and, accordingly, fully realize the fire potential of artillery.
All this became the reason that in the artillery reconnaissance divisions of the artillery brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces began to form the structures of unmanned aerial complexes, which today are equipped with Fury devices manufactured by NPP Athlon Avia (Kiev).
Another direction of modernization undertaken by the Ukrainian army is the improvement of artillery reconnaissance means.
So, at the beginning of 2014, intelligence units were equipped with Soviet-made equipment that did not meet modern requirements for receiving and processing information by artillery units. As pointed out by military experts, the lack of modern reconnaissance means made it possible to realize only half of the capabilities of the artillery units. And with a quick change in the situation with the help of a non-automated control system, only about 20 percent of all intelligence could be processed.
All this led to the fact that in 2015 the military demanded from the Ukrainian military-industrial complex a complete modernization of intelligence equipment. As a result, Ukrainian manufacturers have presented three reconnaissance systems that will increase the potential of artillery.
We are talking about the counter-battery radar 1L220UK "Zoo-3" produced by the Zaporozhye enterprise "Iskra", the automated sound-measuring complex for artillery reconnaissance 1AP1 "Polozhennya-2" and the complex for automated control of the artillery battery and the 1B26-1 battalion Obolon-A.
Zoo-3
If we talk about the counter-battery radar Zoo-3, then it is, in fact, a modification of the Soviet-made radar Zoo-1, the development of which was started back in 1981, but was never completed due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, the Zaporozhye enterprise began work on a new project - the counter-battery radar "Zoo-2", which makes it possible to conduct reconnaissance of the coordinates of enemy guns with a caliber of up to 152 millimeters, as well as mortars of calibers 120 and 80 millimeters at a distance of up to 30 kilometers. The complex can also detect multiple launch rocket systems (30-40 kilometers) and tactical missile launchers (50-55 kilometers). This project was completed quickly enough, and in 2003 it was adopted by the Ukrainian army.
However, after the actual breakdown of business relations with Russian manufacturers and suppliers, the Zoo-2 project had to be redesigned almost completely, because almost all components were produced in the Russian Federation.
As a result, a new radar station - 1L220UK “Zoo-3” appeared, installed on the KrAZ-62221 chassis. According to the manufacturers, the complex is universal, since it makes it possible to exercise control over the airspace, detecting enemy helicopters, aircraft and drones.
However, as noted in the media, this complex still exists in a single copy and there is no talk of adopting it yet. The fact that the complex was not completed is also evidenced by the fact that not so long ago the complex was seen in the Chernihiv region at a military training ground where state tests took place.
On the other hand, the Zaporizhzhya enterprise has already announced that it is ready to start serial production of the complexes and has already started developing a modified version - 1L221E. There is very little information about this modification, but it is known that it will be a mobile version of the system, installed on an 8x8 all-terrain chassis (probably KrAZ-7634NE, if it is brought to mind).
If the complex can be “completed, it will be a great breakthrough, since the time for the complete deployment of the entire complex, which can work as part of one hardware machine, will be significantly reduced.
Position-2
So far, there is a single copy of another new complex - "Polozhennya-2" (sound-metric automated artillery reconnaissance complex). It should be noted that it was developed by order of the Russian military department, but in 2013 it was formally adopted by the Ukrainian army.
The development of the complex began in 1995. The enterprises Orion, Radiopribor and Orion-Navigation, which presented the TA-57 telephone set, the Orion-RN-2.7 and R-173m radio stations, SN-3003M Basalt- M and SN-3210.
In the first half of 2014, the Ukrainian military was armed with one such complex. In 2015, the production of the complex was transferred to the Lviv plant "LORTA". Here, work was carried out to replace Russian-made components with Ukrainian and Western-made spare parts.
The system includes a hardware vehicle (based on the MT-Lbu multipurpose transporter with a crew of 5 people), nine highly sensitive sensors-microphones, three acoustic bases and a weather station. All navigation "stuffing" is designed for GPS. All the information that comes through the receivers of the complex is computer-processed, which makes it possible to obtain the coordinates of the enemy artillery and the point of bursting of shells fired by "friendly" ones.
All information comes through encrypted communication channels and is displayed online on the gunner's commander's digital tablet and on the operator's screen.
The maximum detection range of the enemy reaches 35 kilometers. The system is capable of adjusting the fire of its artillery units at a distance of up to 5 kilometers. Coordinate determination time - no more than 5 seconds. In a minute, the system is capable of receiving up to 50 signals of shots and bursts. In this case, the number of processed targets reaches 100.
It should be noted that the undoubted advantage of this complex is a significant reduction in the number of vehicles and personnel for its maintenance.
Obolon-A
And, finally, one more complex, which can significantly increase the potential of artillery units, is the Obolon-A combat control system produced by the Lviv enterprise LORTA.
The complex includes four vehicles: chief of staff and battalion commander, commander and senior battery officer.
The most interesting in this series is the car of the senior officer. It is designed to collect information about the battery, prepare combat positions for firing, prepare firing and fire control, and adjust fire. The machine is equipped with equipment that makes it possible to make calculations and perform tasks necessary for the preparation of firing. The machine has five workplaces equipped with Swedish-made computers with Ukrainian software.
It must be said that the machine is also equipped with an integrated topogeodetic referencing system, which consists of a GPS satellite navigation system and an American-made inertial high-precision system. An automated meteorological kit is also provided, with the help of which an automated accounting of meteorological factors is carried out during calculations.
Communication is provided in two versions - telecode and voice. For communication, portable radio stations R-002PP and VHF radio stations R-030 (manufacturer - Orion radio plant, Ternopil) are used.
The vehicle is equipped with a radiochemical reconnaissance device that allows crew members to conduct radiation and chemical reconnaissance independently. In addition, the car has two air conditioners and an autonomous power system (diesel generator), which operates both from the main engine and from an additional electrical unit or battery.
The complex works most effectively together with the Zoo-3 and Polozhennya-2 complexes, as well as drones used for reconnaissance and artillery fire adjustment.
Thus, already now we can say that there are several full-fledged complexes capable of receiving and processing huge digital arrays of information. If the Ukrainian military-industrial complex manages to establish their serial production, then it is quite possible that soon we will be able to see Ukrainian artillery in a completely new quality.
