Ukraine's HIMARS wipes out Russia's $250M radar station just days after deployment
Although the time and location of the event were undisclosed, the crucial fact is that the contemporary radar station, sent into battle just a few days earlier, has been destroyed. According to some approximations, the destroyed system could have been worth up to $250 million. It seems likely that Jastreb will endure the same fate as the T-14 Armata, mercilessly tested on the Ukrainian front.
11:47 AM EST, January 3, 2024
HIMARS Annihilates the 1K148 Jastreb-AV
The 1K148 was initially introduced in 2022 at the "Army-2022" propaganda forum. This counter-battery radar station was mounted on the chassis of a four-axle truck, the BAZ-6910-025, and was designed to track the flight path of missiles automatically. Not much else is known about its specifications. Interestingly, it remains uncertain whether it detected the missile that ultimately destroyed it, although this answer will likely remain unknown.
The American M142 HIMARS missile artillery system, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is credited with the destruction of Putin's latest military equipment. This launcher is light, highly mobile, and based on the Oshkosh M1140 truck. It can reach a speed of approximately 59 mph and has the capability to hit targets with GMLRS missiles from a distance of about 9 to 52 miles away, or with MGM-140 ATACMS missiles, from about 43 to 186 miles.
The Shortcomings of Putin's new toy
Experts claim that it was likely a GMLRS missile that destroyed the Jastreb-AV, which implies that the latest Russian radar system may have difficulty in accurately detecting these missiles. It remains unknown how many such systems have been sent to the front, but if the Ukrainians can carry out more successful operations like this, it's not improbable that the Kremlin will pull back the equipment to find out what went wrong.
The HIMARS artillery system has already shown its effectiveness on the Ukrainian front, and indubitably, the most notable achievement has been hitting Russian ammunition depots with ATACMS, which caused substantial damage to Russia's aircraft equipment.
