Russia's Buk Missile System - A Backgrounder

Updated October 2015

It is widely believed that Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was deliberately shot down.  In light of that, I wanted to take a look at the missile system that is likely responsible.

Let's open with a video showing the Buk surface-to-Air missile system:

The 93M38 Buk (which means "beech" in Russian) missile system, known as the SA-11 Gadfly in the West, was developed in Russia beginning in 1972 to replace the obsolete 2K12 Kub and SA-6 Gainful surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.  The system was designed with a better ability to engage multiple targets and with improved countermeasures technology.  Keep in mind that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a vast airspace to defend; this meant that the Soviet Army had to keep a large collection of mobile surface-to-air missile platforms.  The new missile system was evaluated during the period from 1977 to 1979 and was formally cleared for service in 1980.   The system was designed around a missile that was powered by a solid propellant rocket motor that had an operational range of 20 miles and could defend airspace up to 46,000 feet.  Each missile weighs 700 kilograms and is 5.55 metres long.  The missile uses a semi-active homing guidance system and detonates through a radar-based proximity fuse.  The high-explosive used is located in the nose cone. 

As the decades passed, the missiles were updated, giving them the ability to protect themselves from enemy jamming signals that are intended to disrupt missile tracking and detonation.  The 9K37 weapons were credited with rowing four Georgian aerial drones during the fighting between Russia and Georgia in 2008 and the Georgian system was credited with downing four Russian aircraft.  Other nations that have the Buk system include North Korea, Egypt, Syria, Viet Nam, China, India and Venezuela.

A Buk missile battery consists of a command post vehicle which contains the missile battery's data display and control system and the fire-control computer, a target acquisition radar vehicle which is used to acquire potential aerial targets and transmit their position to the command post vehicle and one transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicle, all of which are vehicle mounted.  The time to set up the system is around five minutes and the time from tracking to launch is about 22 seconds.  Each launcher is equipped with four radar-guided missiles.

Here's an interesting quote from Jane's:

"Although it has it own Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system, this is only able to establish whether the target being tracked is a friendly aircraft. It is the electronic equivalent of a sentry calling out "Who goes there?” If there is no reply, all you know is that it is not one of your own side's combat aircraft. It would not give you a warning that you were tracking an airliner." (my bold)

Here is a summary of the Buk anti-aircraft system with both SAM 9M38 and 9M317 missiles:

The loss of life in this tragedy is mind-numbing, particularly given that the passengers of Malaysian Airlines are collateral damage in a civil war that no one is winning.