Ukraine’s counteroffensive is gaining traction.
And as time goes on, more and more video evidence is showing up.
Social media is a buzz with what looks like some pretty key losses for Putin’s armed forces.
What the Footage Shows Us
This week, open-source intelligence tracker @UAWeapons published a video showing the destruction of a Russian Buk-M2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system in Ukraine.
According to the war tracker, the Ukrainian 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade spotted the SAM system along with a 9A316 TEL and 9S36-series illumination and engagement radar, which were also destroyed by precision fire.
In the 23-second clip, the systems are shown being targeted. They erupt in flames after being struck.
What is the Buk missile?
A surface-to-air missile is fired from the ground to target and destroy enemy aircraft and missiles. Initially developed to protect ground assets from aerial assaults, these missiles can reach airframes that fly beyond the range of conventional anti-aircraft artillery.
In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union began developing the 9K37 Buk SAM. The new missile was designed to surpass the capabilities of its predecessor, the 2K12 Kub. The Buk entered service with the Soviet Army and was passed down to Russia after the collapse of the USSR. Russia currently operates more than 500 of these systems, while others are spread among former Soviet bloc countries including Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine.
Specs and Capabilities
Similar to the American-made Tartar and Standard naval air-defense missiles, the Buk features semi-active radar guidance. As described by Military Today, the missile “can engage targets at a range of 3.4-20.5 km at altitudes over 3 km. The range is reduced to 5-15.4 km, when the target flies 30 m above the ground. Maximum engagement altitude is 25 km. The 9M38 missile has a hit probability of 70-93%. The Buk can also fire older 9M9M3 missiles of the Kub-M3 air defense missile system.” A four-soldier crew operates each Buk, which is transported on a tracked vehicle.
Over the years, several Buk variants have emerged, equipped with improvements. The Buk-M2E missile system can simultaneously engage a maximum of two dozen targets, enabling it to perform more missions and with greater mobility. While these enhancements have made the missile system more accurate and effective, it remains pretty dated.
Does Ukraine Have Better Air Defense Systems?
Equipped with the American-made Patriot air defense system, Ukraine is better positioned to thwart Russia’s advances. The U.S. and Germany have each delivered one Patriot battery to Kyiv. In addition to the Patriot, Ukraine has received the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems suite, which includes a radar system, sensors, command post, and munitions. Germany has provided a similar domestic system called IRIS-T, which is considered a tier below the Patriot system.
Over the last year and a half of warfare, countless videos showing Ukraine’s destruction of Russian military assets have circulated. As the counteroffensive rages on, expect to see more Ukrainian barrages targeting Russian assets.
#Ukraine: In Novopetrykivka, #Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade spotted an 9A316 TEL and 9S36-series illumination and engagement radar of the Buk-M2 SAM system and they were destroyed by precision fire. pic.twitter.com/19mpJzE52Y
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 30, 2023
Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
