A brigade armed with the latest Buk-M3 and Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems will appear in the Southern Military District. It is expected that the unit will become part of one of the combined arms armies. The Buk-M3 air defense system has already received the name "anti-aircraft submachine guns"in the troops. They are able to detect and shoot down targets at a range of up to 70 km and repel massive attacks by cruise missiles. According to experts, the brigade will become a mobile reserve. The connection will protect not only the sky of the south of Russia — if necessary, it can be quickly transferred to the Crimea or to the western direction.
A brigade armed with the latest Buk-M3 and Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems will appear in the Southern Military District. It is expected that the unit will become part of one of the combined arms armies. The Buk-M3 air defense system has already received the name "anti-aircraft submachine guns"in the troops. They are able to detect and shoot down targets at a range of up to 70 km and repel massive attacks by cruise missiles. According to experts, the brigade will become a mobile reserve. The connection will protect not only the sky of the south of Russia — if necessary, it can be quickly transferred to the Crimea or to the western direction.
Southern " Buki»
In 2021, a new anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Ground Forces will be formed in the Southern Military District (SE). The compound will be included in one of the three combined arms armies stationed in the south of the country. Its special feature will be the presence of divisions with Buk-M2 and the latest Buk-M3 complexes in service at the same time, sources in the Ministry of Defense told Izvestia. Previously, parts of the military air defense tried to equip one type of equipment.
As previously reported by the commander of the Southern Military District, Army General Alexander Dvornikov, the district is the leader in the rate of rearmament. According to the results of 2020, the district received about 3 thousand new and modernized samples of weapons and military equipment. As a result, their share reached 70%. Structural reforms do not stop either. Recently, the 19th Motorized Rifle Division was recreated in the south, and rocket and artillery brigades were formed. In the coming year, several more parts and connections will be added to them.
The head of the air defense of the Russian Land Forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov, previously reported that all new deliveries to the troops of medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) will go already in the Buk-M3 version. Production of the previous generation variants has been discontinued.
— According to the plans, such anti-aircraft missile brigades should be in every army, but the capacity of the industry does not allow everyone to be re-equipped instantly, - military expert Viktor Murakhovsky told Izvestia. — The brigade includes a large number of weapons. In addition to the SAMs themselves, there are also control vehicles, logistics, repair, etc. Therefore, when new complexes are received, the option is allowed under the division, when the brigade will have a mixed composition: part of the units on the "Buk-M3", and the rest — on the "Buk-M2".
If necessary, the team can be quickly transferred to any direction. Such issues are regularly worked out at surprise inspections and strategic command and staff exercises, the expert noted.
Anti-aircraft " robot»
According to the general director of the Tikhomirov Research Institute, where the Buk-M3 was developed, there are no analogues among the mobile medium-range air defense systems in the world. This is the fourth, most modern generation of the complex today. Among its main advantages is the ability to track and fire at several targets at once.
The division of upgraded "Buks", the delivery of which began in 2016, can simultaneously shoot at 36 objects. Previous versions had only four rockets ready to launch. The M3 version of the self-propelled firing system has six of them. Another 12 are placed on a transport-loading vehicle, which can also fire at external target designation. This increased the number of ready-to-use ammunition several times.
"These are good tracked air defense systems," Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev, the former deputy head of the Air Force for the CIS Joint Air Defense System, told Izvestia. — They can fight all existing means of air and space attack. For echeloned anti-aircraft missile defense, the Buk is indispensable. It is also good for its mobility.
In general, such brigades are intended for the protection and defense of the combined-arms army, the expert said. When the troops move, they go along with the tanks and cover them from air strikes. But if necessary, the complexes are quickly assembled and either transferred by aircraft, or get under their own power to an area where there is political instability or the danger of a military conflict.
The missiles for them have also been upgraded. A new version of the 9M317M was developed especially for the Buk-M3. According to experts, the range has doubled compared to the ammunition used on the Buk-M2 ,and reached 70 km. Increased to 35 km and a ceiling of defeats the purpose.
But the main advantage is the high automation of the complex. It can detect, identify, and fire at aerial and ballistic targets with minimal human intervention. At the same time, the self-propelled fire installation is able to operate both completely independently and under the full control of the division headquarters. During the exercises, the military regularly works out the interaction of the Buk-M3 and the SAM.
Defenders of the Army
Last fall, Buk-M3 took part in experimental exercises of military air defense to create a layered defense against modern threats. At the training ground in the Astrakhan region, they operated under a single control along with other modern air defense systems: long-range S-300V4, short-range Tor-M2, and even Typhoon-Airborne armored cars with anti-aircraft gunners armed with portable complexes. Together, they created a solid field of destruction within a radius of 3 km to 200 km.
Previously, such an operation would not have been possible. For more than 15 years, the air defense forces of the Ground Forces received almost no new equipment. Priority was given to updating the air defense systems of the VKS, where the S-400 "Triumph" and the ZRPK "Pantsir"arrived en masse.
The situation has changed in recent years. In the Ground Forces, air defense brigades were recreated with upgraded S-300V4 systems. Complexes capable of intercepting air and ballistic targets are subordinated to districts. The rearmament of army-level regiments and air defense units in divisions and brigades has also begun.
In addition to the Buk-M3 ,other upgraded models of air defense equipment are being developed for the Ground Forces. Among them are the tracked "Pantsir-SM-SV" with an increased target range of up to 40 km, the "Birdman" air defense system for equipping combined-arms and amphibious formations, and the "Derivation-AIR DEFENSE" anti-aircraft self-propelled gun with a 57-mm gun. All of them are created taking into account new threats, primarily drones and high-precision guided weapons.
