Russia Receives Latest Irbis Radar

The Russian occupation forces has got into service the latest Irbis universal radar station, which is capable of targeting artillery fire and aviation.

The news was published by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Russian invasion group of troops “North”, which is fighting in the Kharkiv direction, is using the recently received Irbis radar station against the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The radar system, according to its operators, is capable of detecting artillery and missile fire and bearing the coordinates of installations, working as a counter-battery radar.

The versatility of the system lies in its ability to monitor the airspace and search for enemy aircraft and drones at a distance of up to 150 kilometers.

In the video, the radar system didn’t get into the frame, which is why its antenna isn’t shown.

Presumably, only the control vehicle was shown in the video, and the radar antenna itself was placed on the chassis of another vehicle. In particular, in one of the shots, you can see the edge of another truck of unknown purpose standing nearby.

The video also shows the control panel of the radar unit, where one of the toggle switches is labeled “AESA device”, which may indicate the integration of an active phased array radar into the complex.

Unlike older electronically scanned array (ESA) radars, radars with active electronically scanned array antennas are capable of detecting targets in the entire field of view without the need to focus the radiation in one direction.

The vehicle itself is mounted on a four-axle chassis of a KamAZ-6350 truck with an armored cab, which should provide protection against debris and small arms.

In addition, the vehicle in the video is additionally equipped with a camouflage net and covered with a cloth that resembles a thermal and radar camouflage kit called “Nakidka”. The latter is often used by Russian tanks for camouflaging from thermal imagers and missiles with an IR seeker.

It is worth noting that until now, there has been no mention of the development or testing of a radar station with this name on the web. At the same time, the Russian Federation has an aviation radar of the same name, which is installed on the Su-30 fighter jet. However, it has a simple phased array antenna and could hardly be adapted for use on the ground.