Direct proof of use
The P-35/P-37 Bar Lock family appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through source-backed air-defense sensor evidence rather than a firing role. Oryx's Russian loitering-munition list identifies a Ukrainian P-35/37 Bar Lock radar as a target missed by a Lancet-3, placing the radar in Ukrainian wartime service.
Russian use is documented through the April 2, 2026 strike on Kirovske airbase in occupied Crimea. Ukrinform reported that Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces struck the airfield and listed a P-37 MECH radar station among the targets; Ukrainska Pravda and The New Voice of Ukraine also reported a destroyed P-37 Mech radar there. WarSpotting separately records a Russian 1RL110 P-35 Saturn or 1RL139 P-37 Mech loss at Kirovske airbase on the same date.
Sources: Oryx Lancet Miss List, Ukrinform Kirovske Radar Strike, Ukrainska Pravda Kirovske Strike, NV Kirovske Radar Strike, WarSpotting Kirovske P-35 P-37 Loss
Timeline
On November 25, 2022, Oryx published a running list of Russian loitering-munition attacks that included a Ukrainian P-35/37 Bar Lock radar missed by a Lancet-3. The entry supports Ukrainian possession and fielding in the war, but the list item does not provide a precise strike date or location in the visible page text.
On April 2, 2026, Ukrainian and open-source reporting converged on a Russian P-37/P-35-family radar loss at Kirovske airbase in occupied Crimea. Ukrinform said the radar was one of three target groups hit in the strike, while WarSpotting logged the visually documented loss as a Russian 1RL110 P-35 Saturn or 1RL139 P-37 Mech destroyed by loitering munition at Kirovske airbase.
Sources: Oryx Lancet Miss List, Ukrinform Kirovske Radar Strike, WarSpotting Kirovske P-35 P-37 Loss
Radar role
The documented conflict role is air surveillance and air-defense network support. Radartutorial describes the P-37 Mech as a transportable two-dimensional air-surveillance radar for fighter guidance and surface-to-air missile assignment, and Ukrinform described the P-37 MECH target at Kirovske as intended to detect aerial targets, guide fighter aircraft, and provide target data for air-defense systems.
That role helps explain why the evidence appears in strike and loss reporting rather than attack reporting. The available direct sources document the radar family as a sensor that was fielded, targeted, and destroyed; they do not establish missile launches or direct kinetic effects by the radar itself.
Sources: Radartutorial P-37 Bar Lock, Ukrinform Kirovske Radar Strike, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses
