page_title: Buk missile system
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Buk missile system / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Interior of 9А39 TEL vehicle of Buk missile system Русский: Внутри пуско-заряжающей установки 9А39 ЗРК «Бук».
context_page_description: The Buk missile system 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.
  The Buk missile system is the successor to the NIIP/Vympel 2K12 Kub. 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 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. In 2013, the latest incarnation "Buk-M3" was scheduled for production.
  A naval version of the system, designed by MNIIRE Altair 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.
context_section_description: A standard Buk battalion consists of a command vehicle, target acquisition radar (TAR) vehicle, six transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR) vehicles and three transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicles. A Buk missile battery consists of two TELAR and one TEL vehicle.
  The Buk-M1-2 TELAR uses the GM-569 chassis designed and produced by JSC MMZ (Mytishchi). TELAR superstructure is a turret containing the fire control radar at the front and a launcher with four ready-to-fire missiles on top. Each TELAR is operated by a crew of four and is equipped with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) protection. It can guide up to three missiles against a single target. While the early Buk had a day radar tracking system 9Sh38 (similar to that used on Kub, Tor and Osa missile system), its current design can be fitted with a combined optical tracking system with a thermal camera and a laser range-finder for passive tracking of the target. The 9K37 system can also use the same 1S91 Straight Flush 25 kW G/H band continuous wave radar as the 3M9 "Kub" system.
  The 9S35 radar of the original Buk TELAR uses a mechanical scan of a Cassegrain antenna reflector, where the Buk-M2 TELAR design used a PESA, for tracking and missile guidance.
  The 9K37 uses the 9S18 "Tube Arm" or 9S18M1 (which carries the NATO reporting name "Snow Drift") (Russian: СОЦ 9C18 "Купол"; dome) target acquisition radar in combination with the 9S35 or 9S35M1 "Fire Dome" H/I band tracking and engagement radar which is mounted on each TELAR. The Snow Drift target acquisition radar has a maximum detection range of 85 km (53 mi) and can detect an aircraft flying at 100 m (330 ft) from 35 km (22 mi) away and even lower flying targets at ranges of around 10–20 km (6–12 mi).
  The TEL reload vehicle for the Buk battery resembles the TELAR, but instead of a radar they have a crane for the loading of missiles. They are capable of launching missiles directly but require the cooperation of a Fire Dome-equipped TELAR for missile guidance. A reload vehicle can transfer its missiles to a TELAR in around 13 minutes and can reload itself from stores in around 15 minutes.
  Also, the Buk-M2 featured a new vehicle like TELAR but with radar atop of a telescopic lift and without missiles, called a target acquisition radar (TAR) 9S36. This vehicle could be used together with two TELs 9A316 to attack up to four targets, missile guidance in forested or hilly regions.
  The mobile simulator SAM Buk-M2E was shown at MAKS-2013. A self-propelled fire simulator installation JMA 9A317ET SAM "Buk-M2E", based on the mobile, is designed for training and evaluating the combat crew in the war environment to detect, capture, lock on to ("maintain") and defeat targets. A computer information system fully records all actions of the crew to a "black box" to allow objective assessment of the consistency of the crew's actions and results.
  All vehicles of the Buk-M1 (Buk-M1-2) missile system use an Argon-15A computer, as does the Zaslon radar (the first Soviet-made airborne digital computer, designed in 1972 by the Soviet Research Institute of Computer Engineering (NICEVT, currently NII Argon). It is produced at a Chișinău plant originally named "50 Years of the USSR". The vehicles of Buk-M2 (Buk-M2E) missile system use a slightly upgraded version of Argon-A15K. This processor is also used in such military systems as anti-submarine defence Korshun and Sova, airborne radars for MiG-31 and MiG-33, mobile tactical missile systems Tochka, Oka and Volga. Currently, Argons are upgraded with the Baget series of processors by NIIP.
caption: Inside the TEL of a Buk-M1-2 SAM system
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