Direct proof of use
Oryx's Ukrainian equipment-loss inventory lists one Ukrainian PRV-16ML height-finder radar destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Oryx's separate Russian loitering-munition kill list places the same type under Ukrainian radar losses and identifies the weapon that destroyed it as a Lancet-3M.
The original Ukraine Weapons Tracker post cited in the Oryx lists described the target as a Ukrainian PRV-16ML height-finder radar destroyed by a Lancet loitering munition. That evidence supports Ukrainian fielding and wartime loss of the PRV-16ML, but it does not establish a broader order of battle, quantity in service, exact unit, or precise location.
Sources: Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, Oryx Russian Loitering Munition Kill List, Ukraine Weapons Tracker PRV-16ML Post
Timeline
On December 15, 2022, Ukraine Weapons Tracker reported that a Ukrainian PRV-16ML had been destroyed by a Lancet loitering munition and noted that the modernized radar had not previously been publicly known in Ukrainian service.
Oryx later carried the system in two conflict-specific inventories: the Ukrainian equipment-loss list as one destroyed PRV-16ML, and the Russian loitering-munition kill list as one PRV-16ML destroyed by Lancet-3M.
Sources: Ukraine Weapons Tracker PRV-16ML Post, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, Oryx Russian Loitering Munition Kill List
Operational role
The PRV-16ML is not a missile launcher or strike weapon. Altimus-Tech describes it as a mobile height-finder radar intended to measure aircraft altitude from target designations supplied by interfaced surveillance radars or automated control systems, distribute data in ASTERIX format, and serve as the height-finder element in a 3D radar-complex architecture.
In the Ukrainian conflict record, the documented role is therefore air-defense surveillance and altitude-finding support. The public evidence confirms at least one Ukrainian system in the war and its destruction, while the manufacturer material explains why a height finder of this type would be paired with wider air-defense and surveillance networks.
Sources: Altimus-Tech PRV-16ML Product Page, Altimus-Tech 3D Radar Complex Product Page, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses
