-
Ukraine’s Eastern Air Command has revealed photos of a “FrankenSAM,” a mix of Soviet and American weapons.
-
The combined air defense systems were announced in October, but this is the first time one has been officially revealed.
-
Ukraine and the US have been working on “FrankenSAM” projects to utilize Kiev’s older inventory.
Ukraine on Monday revealed the first official photos of a “FrankenSAM”, a hybrid air defense system that combines Soviet launchers with US missiles.
Eastern Air Command posted the photos on its Facebook page with an interview with an officer in charge of the defense system.
Two images show a Buk-M1 self-propelled launcher with camouflage netting hanging from the top, obscuring parts of the system.
Ukrainian defense media identified the system as a “FrankenSAM” equipped with RIM-7 missiles, noting that the Buk appeared relatively unchanged from the outside, with its original launch and radar dome intact.
Two other photos show wreckage from destroyed drones, with the officer interviewed saying his crew removed a Lancet drone and an Orlan-10 drone – indicating that the “FrankenSAMs” can be deployed to destroy smaller targets.
Ukraine has been experimenting with U.S. engineers for months on using its existing inventory of Soviet-era Buk systems to fire old RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles supplied by Washington. It is difficult for Kiev to acquire ammunition for its Buk launchers because Russia manufactures it.
And so, the “FrankenSAM” – a briefcase crossing Frankenstein’s monster and surface-to-air missile defense systems – was born, with authorities first mentioning the hybrid design in October.
The New York Times reported that Ukraine and the US were also trying to pair AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles with Soviet radar systems and Patriot missiles with Ukrainian-made radar systems.
It’s an experimental marriage of systems built separately on opposite sides of the Cold War, but it appears to be working. The “FrankenSAM” marked its first death reported in Januarywhen Ukraine said it shot down a Shahed drone 5 1/2 miles away.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the RIM-7 missiles, developed in the 1960s, have a shorter range than the traditional Soviet-made munitions for which the Buk was designed.
In November, a spokesman for the force at the time, Yuriy Ignat, told the Ukrainian outlet New Voice that “FrankenSAM” would be effective in “a small radius”.
The range of the RIM-7 is about 20 kilometers in flat distance and about 15 kilometers in altitude, while the Soviet 9M38 can hit targets about 29 kilometers away and at an altitude of 19 kilometers.
Official “FrankenSAM” photos were published about three weeks later Russian forces claimed having destroyed a Ukrainian Buk M-1 with drones in Kharkiv. A video published online appeared to show the Buk with custom-mounted missiles.
Read the original article at Business Insider
