Illustrative image. Source: the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
A Ukrainian Buk-M1 air-defense system has been destroyed by a Russian airstrike on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, announced on December 11.
“Near the Kramatorsk settlement of the Donetsk People’s Republic a position has been disclosed and the launch platform of the Ukrainian Buk-M1 ground-to-air missile system has been eliminated,” he told a briefing focused on the special military operation.
The Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range air-defense systems designed to counter cruise missiles, smart bombs, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The original Buk-M1 variant, which was developed in the Soviet Union, has an engagement range of 35 kilometers and an altitude of 22 kilometers.
The Ukrainian military inherited some 70 Buk-M1 systems after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some of the systems were modernized to the Buk-M1-2 standard before the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. This version has an engagement range of 42 kilometers and a top altitude of 25 kilometers.
Click to see full-size image.
The fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces have been hunting down Ukrainian air defenses, including Buk-M1 systems, with anti-radiation missiles, mainly the Kh-31PD/PK which has a range of 110-160 kilometers.
NATO states are currently working to replace Ukraine’s soviet air defenses with Western-made systems. In the last few weeks, the Ukrainian military received German-made IRIS-T SLM, Norwegian-made NASAMS, American-made MIM-23 Hawk, Italian-made Aspide 2000 and French-made Crotale NG air defense-systems.
The new systems didn’t present any new challenge to the Russian military, who is still carrying out aerial operations and missile attacks in Ukraine with much freedom.
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desovietization of Ukronazistan in full swing. This is what the Clown wanted anyways.
Destroy the Nazis
UN VERDADERO SISTEMA AINTIAEREO EFICAZ DEBE TENER MAS ALCANCE QUE LAS ARMAS DE UN AVION ETC Y ESAS SON PALABRAS MAYORES EN EL NEGOCIO DE LA GUERRA MODERNA