Russian Buk SAMs Destroy Over 60 Targets in Ukraine, MoD Says

Russian Army's Buk medium-range air defense systems have destroyed over 60 targets during the combat operations in Ukraine, reported on Wednesday the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Russians have labelled the latest Buk-M3 as the "drone destroyer."

"The Buk air defense missile system crews from the Central Military District within the special military operation have destroyed over 60 targets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, such as planes, drones and projectiles of the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems. The personnel is tasked to detect, track, and destroy hostile aircraft and airpower, protecting the positions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as crucial administrative and industrial facilities," reported the Russian MoD.

Earlier it was disclosed, that the Buk-M2 and the latest Buk-M3 (Viking for export) versions were combined in action to down hostile targets including rockets fired by American-made HIMARS, UAVs and Tochka-U ballistic missiles used by the Ukrainian Army. The MoD on January 11 gave details of the use of the Buk-M3.

"The detection zone of the Buk is 120 km, it can hit targets at a distance of up to 70 km. If necessary, the Buk-M3 can increase the range of its action with the help of S-300 and S-400 long-range air defense systems, with which it is able to exchange data and work in pair. As a result, at a distance of 200 km, any target will be detected and then shot down. The Buk-M3 is also called 'drone destroyer' for having shot down an enormous number of Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and attack UAVs in the beginning of the special military operation," the MoD said.

The Buk is a multi-channel, mobile  air defense system designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft, helicopters (including hovering ones), cruise missiles, guided bombs and other aerodynamic aircraft in the entire range of their possible use, as well as to combat tactical ballistic, aerial missiles and others elements of high-precision weapons in flight, specifies the MoD.

Russia has Buk SAMs and several other types of short- and long- range air defense systems in their hundreds ringed around the conflict zone in Southern Ukraine. If some of them have been combined into a swarm, their missiles can take down a number of projectiles from different systems fired by Ukrainian forces.

The export-oriented version of the Buk-M3 is the Viking SAM system. It was unveiled internationally during the DefExpo India 2020 in Lucknow. The number of simultaneously engaged targets has increased by 1.5 times (compared to the earlier modification), and the number of ready-for-launch missiles in one firing position made of two combat units has grown up from 8 to 18. Besides, the Viking envisages a capability of the autonomous use of the firing sections, which enlarges the total defended area and increases the number of covered sites. The SAM system can be integrated into different air defense formations (including those equipped with radars of non-Russian origin). According to the official presentation of the developer – the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP), the ADS can also hit naval and ground targets. The system can work at unequipped sites and entrenchments, as well as at an altitude up to 3,000 m above the sea level.