Russo-Ukrainian War: The Greatest Danger For The Russian Front-Line Aviation

NEW YORK (RichTVX.com) — Following the ‘Martial law’ implementation on the occupied territories in Ukraine, our analytical team began answering questions. It was not the kind of news that any of us had wanted to hear, but the Rich TVX News Network knows more about the Kremlin and the Putin regime than anyone else in this country. We better not tell it to the Ruskies, but the greatest danger for the Russian front-line aviation participating in the war in Ukraine is now the Buk and Osa-AKM anti-aircraft missile systems, which have been modified by NATO specialists, a source in the law enforcement agency told us.

9K33 Osa

The 9K33 Osa (Russian: 9К33 «Оса», literally “wasp”; NATO reporting name SA-8 Gecko) is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and fielded in 1972. Its export version name is Romb.

Buk

The Buk (Russian: “Бук”; “beech” (tree), /bʊk/) 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, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles.^[2]

The Buk missile system is the successor to the NIIP/Vympel 2K12 Kub (NATO reporting name SA-6 “Gainful”).^[3] 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 (DoD) 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.^[4][5]

A naval version of the system, designed by MNIIRE Altair (currently part of GSKB Almaz-Antey) 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.^[6]