franco Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:46 pm
A new anti-aircraft missile brigade with a Buk-M3 air defense system is being formed in the Southern Military District
A new anti-aircraft missile brigade will be formed in the Southern Military District, the decision has already been made. This is reported by Izvestia with reference to a source in the Ministry of Defense.
The formed anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Ground Forces will become part of one of the three combined arms armies of the Southern Military District. The brigade will be armed with the Buk-M2 and Buk-M3 anti-aircraft systems.
As explained, at present, the Russian military industry no longer produces previous versions of the Buk air defense system, only Buk-M3 systems are supplied to the troops. However, the pace of production does not allow in a short time to re-equip anti-aircraft units with the latest version of the air defense system, therefore, part of the Buk-M2 air defense system remains in service. As new equipment arrives, the brigade will be fully re-equipped with the Buk-M3 air defense system.
According to the plan of the military department, the new brigade will become a mobile reserve capable, if necessary, to cover the most dangerous areas, including Crimea. In addition, the transfer of the brigade to the western direction in case of emergency is not excluded.
The Buk-M3 air defense system is a medium-range fourth-generation military air defense system. Designed to combat maneuvering aerodynamic targets, fire at radio-contrast ground targets and defeat surface targets in conditions of intense fire and electronic countermeasures. Each self-propelled gun mount instead of four, as on the Buk-M2 version, accommodates 6 anti-aircraft missiles in special launch containers. The new high-speed rocket 9M317M received a homing head. It is capable of intercepting high-speed aerial targets at a distance of up to 30 km or shooting "beyond the horizon". This allows you to direct it to the target using early warning aircraft (AWACS), fighters or any other air reconnaissance aircraft up to unmanned aerial vehicles.The complex is capable of simultaneously firing at up to 36 targets flying at a speed of up to 3 km per second at ranges from 2.5 to 70 km. The probability of defeat is not less than 0.95–0.97.
NOTE: since the 49th and 58th Combined Arms Armies already have a BUK brigade, suspect this one will go to the 8th Combined Arms Army