Buk missile system
The Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation, and designed to counter cruise missiles, smart bombs and rotary-wing aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. In the Russian A2AD network, Buk is located below the S-200/300/400 systems and above the point defense Tor and Pantsir.
A standard Buk battalion consists of a command vehicle, target acquisition radar vehicle, six transporter erector launcher and radar vehicles and three transporter erector launcher vehicles. A Buk missile battery consists of two TELAR and one TEL vehicle, with six missiles for a full complement of 14 missiles.
The Buk missile system is the successor to the NIIP/Vympel 2K12 Kub. The first version of Buk adopted into service carried the GRAU designation 9K37 Buk and was identified in the West with the NATO reporting name "Gadfly" as well as the US Department of Defense designation SA-11.
With the integration of a new missile, the Buk-M1-2 and Buk-M2 systems also received a new NATO reporting name Grizzly and a new DoD designation SA-17. Since 2013, the latest incarnation "Buk-M3" is currently in production and active service with a new DoD designation SA-27.
A naval version of the system, designed by MNIIRE Altair for the Russian Navy, received the GRAU designation 3S90M and will be identified with the NATO reporting name Gollum and a DoD designation SA-N-7C, according to Jane's Missiles & Rockets. The naval system was scheduled for delivery in 2014.
A Buk missile was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014.
Development
Development of the 9K37 "Buk" started on 17 January 1972 at the request of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The development team included many of the same institutions that had developed the previous 2K12 "Kub", including the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design as the lead designer and the Novator design bureau, which was responsible for the development of the missile armament. were employed to develop radar-homing capacities In addition to the land-based system, a marine system was to be produced for the Navy: the 3S90 "Uragan" which also carries the SA-N-7 and "Gadfly" designations.The Buk missile system was designed to surpass the 2K12 Kub in all parameters, and its designers, including its chief designer Ardalion Rastov, visited Egypt in 1971 to see Kub in operation. Both the Kub and Buk used self-propelled launchers developed by Ardalion Rastov. As a result of this visit, the developers came to the conclusion that each Buk transporter erector launcher should have its own fire control radar, rather than being reliant on one central radar for the whole system as in Kub. The result of this move from TEL to transporter erector launcher and radar was a system able to shoot at multiple targets in multiple directions at the same time.
In 1974 the developers determined that although the Buk missile system is the successor to the Kub missile system, both systems could share some interoperability. The result of this decision was the 9K37-1 Buk-1 system. Interoperability between Buk TELAR and Kub TEL meant an increase in the number of fire control channels and available missiles for each system, as well as faster entry of Buk system components into service. The Buk-1 was adopted into service in 1978 following completion of state trials, while the complete Buk missile system was accepted into service in 1980 after state trials took place between 1977 and 1979.
The naval variant of the 9K37 "Buk", the 3S90 "Uragan", was developed by the Altair design bureau under the direction of chief designer G.N. Volgin. The 3S90 used the same 9M38 missile as the 9K37, though the launcher and associated guidance radars were exchanged for naval variants. After the 9S90 system was tested, between 1974 and 1976 on the Kashin-class destroyer Provorny, it was accepted into service in 1983 on the Project 956 Sovremenny-class destroyers.
No sooner had the 9K37 "Buk" entered service than the Central Committee of the CPSU authorised the development of a modernised 9K37 which would become the 9K37M1 Buk-M1, adopted into service in 1983. The modernisation improved the performance of the system radars, its "probability of kill" and its resistance to electronic countermeasures. Additionally a digital target classification system was installed, relying on spectral analysis of returned radar signals. This targeting system is of different nature and purpose when compared to an IFF system.
Image:Buk-M1-2 9A310M1-2.jpg|thumb|upright|A Buk-M1-2 SAM system 9A310M1-2 TELAR at 2005 MAKS Airshow
Another modification to the Buk missile system was started in 1992 with work carried out between 1994 and 1997 to produce the 9K37M1-2 Buk-M1-2, which entered service in 1998. This modification introduced a new missile, the 9M317, which offered greater kinetic performance over the previous 9M38, which could still be used by the Buk-M1-2. Such sharing of the missile type caused a transition to a different GRAU designation, 9K317, which has been used independently for all later systems. The previous 9K37 series name was also preserved for the complex, as was the "Buk" name. The new missile, as well as a variety of other modifications, allowed the system to shoot down ballistic missiles and surface targets, as well as enlarging the "performance and engagement envelope" for more traditional targets like aircraft and helicopters. The 9K37M1-2 Buk-M1-2 also received a new NATO reporting name distinguishing it from previous generations of the Buk system; this new reporting name was the SA-17 Grizzly. The export version of the 9K37M1-2 system is called "Ural" ; this name has also been applied to M2, at least to early, towed, export versions.
The introduction of the 9K37M1-2 system for the land forces also marked the introduction of a new naval variant: the "Ezh", which carries the NATO reporting name SA-N-7B 'Grizzly'. was exported under the name "Shtil" and carries a NATO reporting name of SA-N-7C 'Gollum', according to Jane's catalogue. The 9K317 incorporates the 9M317 missile to replace the 9M38 used by the previous system. A further development of the system was unveiled as a concept at EURONAVAL 2004, a vertical launch variant of the 9M317, the 9M317ME, which is expected to be exported under the name "Shtil-1". Jane's also reported that in the Russian forces it would have a name of 3S90M .
The Buk-M1-2 modernisation – based on a previous more advanced developmental system referred to as the 9K317 "Buk-M2" – featured new missiles and a new third-generation phased array fire control radar allowing targeting of up to four targets while tracking an additional 24. A new radar system with a fire control radar on a 24 m extending boom reputedly enabled more accurate targeting of low-altitude planes. This generation of Buk missile systems was stalled due to poor economic conditions after the fall of the Soviet Union. The system was presented as a static display at the 2007 MAKS Airshow.
In October 2007, Russian General Nikolai Frolov, commander of the Russian Ground Forces air defense, declared that the army would receive the brand-new Buk-M3 to replace the Buk-M1. He stipulated that the M3 would feature advanced electronic components and enter into service in 2009. The upgraded Buk-M3 TELAR will have a seven rollers tracked chassis and 6 missiles in launch tubes.
Description
A standard Buk battalion consists of a command vehicle, target acquisition radar vehicle, six transporter erector launcher and radar vehicles and three transporter erector launcher vehicles. A Buk missile battery consists of two TELAR and one TEL vehicle.The Buk-M1-2 TELAR uses the GM-569 chassis designed and produced by JSC MMZ. The TELAR superstructure is a turret containing the fire control radar at the front and a launcher with four ready-to-fire missiles on top. Each TELAR is operated by a crew of four and is equipped with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protection. It can guide up to three missiles against a single target. While the early Buk had a day radar tracking system 9Sh38, its current design can be fitted with a combined optical tracking system with a thermal camera and a laser rangefinder for passive tracking of the target. The 9K37 system can also use the same 1S91 Straight Flush 25 kW G/H band continuous wave radar as the 3M9 "Kub" system.
The 9S35 radar of the original Buk TELAR uses a mechanical scan of a Cassegrain antenna reflector, where the Buk-M2 TELAR design used a PESA, for tracking and missile guidance.
Image:Buk-M1-2 9S18M1-1.JPG|thumb|right|upright|A Buk-M1-2 SAM system 9S18M1-1 Tube Arm target acquisition radar on 2005 MAKS Airshow
The 9K37 uses the 9S18 "Tube Arm" or 9S18M1 target acquisition radar in combination with the 9S35 or 9S35M1 H/I band tracking and engagement radar which is mounted on each TELAR. The 9S18M1 target acquisition radar has a maximum detection range of and can detect an aircraft flying at from away and even lower flying targets at ranges of around.
The TEL reload vehicle for the Buk battery resembles the TELAR, but instead of a radar they have a crane for the loading of missiles. They are capable of launching missiles directly but require the cooperation of a 9S35-equipped TELAR for missile guidance. A reload vehicle can transfer its missiles to a TELAR in around 13 minutes and can reload itself from stores in around 15 minutes.
Also, the Buk-M2 featured a new vehicle like TELAR but with radar atop of a telescopic lift and without missiles, called a target acquisition radar 9S36. This vehicle could be used together with two TELs 9A316 to attack up to four targets, missile guidance in forested or hilly regions.
The mobile simulator SAM Buk-M2E was shown at MAKS-2013. A self-propelled fire simulator installation JMA 9A317ET SAM "Buk-M2E", based on the mobile, is designed for training and evaluating the combat crew in the war environment to detect, capture, lock on to and defeat targets. A computer information system fully records all actions of the crew to a "black box" to allow objective assessment of the consistency of the crew's actions and results.
All vehicles of the Buk-M1 missile system use an Argon-15A computer, as does the Zaslon radar. It is produced at a Chișinău plant originally named "50 Years of the USSR". The vehicles of Buk-M2 missile system use a slightly upgraded version of Argon-A15K. This processor is also used in such military systems as anti-submarine defence Korshun and Sova, airborne radars for MiG-31 and MiG-33, mobile tactical missile systems Tochka, Oka and Volga. Currently, Argons are upgraded with the Baget series of processors by NIIP.