Aboard USS John C. Stennins (CVN-74) – the aircraft carrier launches a RIM-7 NATO Sea Sparrow System (NSSM) missile during a missile exercise. Sea Sparrow is also used for the Basic Point Missile Defense System (BPDMS) for anti-ship missile defense. August 27, 1997. (U.S. Army photo)
An officer of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has warned from a Ukrainian plan to integrate American-made RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles on Buk-M1 air defense system left from the Soviet era.
The unnamed officer told the TASS news agency on January 15 that incompatibility between the missile and the air defense system could threaten civilians.
The United States announced the supply of Sea Sparrow missiles, which were developed in the 1960s to provide point-defense for naval vessels, for integration on Ukrainian air defense systems earlier this month. The plan is mainly meant to keep Kiev’s remaining Buk-M1 systems operational for use against Russian warplanes, drones and missiles.
“The situation with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is far from simple. This is almost the same missile aircraft used to be equipped with, and it was previously called AIM-7. Positioned as a medium-range projectile, it was first used in combat during the war in Vietnam,” the officer told the Russian news agency.
The Sea Sparrow has an engagement range of around 19 kilometers. It is guided by semi-active radar, the same guidance method used by the 9М38-series missiles of the Buk-M1 system.
The DPR officer noted that there is a “huge difference” between anti-aircraft missiles designed to be launched from naval vessels and others made to be launched from ground vehicles.
“I cannot say how, if at all, they are adapted for ground-to-air defense purposes,” the officer said. “Obviously, these missiles can be installed somewhere and somehow launched. Even Soviet-era missile systems can be used for that, but the question is how its seeker will work and whether the control systems of the missile and the missile system can be synced. And nobody knows how all this will work. So far, Ukrainian air defenses have been regularly hitting residential areas from standard, Soviet-era missile systems.”
Taiwan has been the only country to operate the ground-launched version of the missiles, as a part of the Swiss-developed Skyguard air defense system. The U.S. and multiple allied navies use the original naval version only.
Air defense missiles launched by Kiev forces have repeatedly fallen on residential areas in different parts of Ukraine as well as in neighboring countries.
In mid-November, a missile launched from an S-300 long-range air defense system of Kiev forces killed two farmers in the Polish village of Przewodów near the border with Ukraine. Similar incidents were reported in Moldova and Belarus in later weeks.
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