Our Best Look At Ukraine’s ‘FrankenBuk’ Air Defense System

By The War Zone | Created at 2025-03-18 22:51:25 | Updated at 2025-03-20 15:15:49 1 day ago

New official photos provide our best look so far at Ukraine’s so-called ‘FrankenSAM’ variant that combines a Soviet-era Buk-M1 system with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles. This is, by now, just one of several such ground-based air defense systems that are providing Ukraine with innovative means of launching Western surface-to-air missiles, as well as older Soviet-era interceptors, to supplement their existing systems and other donated hardware.

The four new photos were published by the Ukrainian Air Force on their Facebook page. These show one of the tracked self-propelled Buk-M1 systems — known in the West as SA-11 Gadfly — having been adapted to fire the RIM-7, a missile that previously provided point defense for numerous NATO and allied warships. For the first time, we get a clear look at the missiles mounted on their launcher: a total of three are carried, although there is provision for a fourth.

In previous, lower-quality imagery, it appeared as though the missiles were carried in container launchers, but they are actually in cage-like frames, with the fins deployed. This means that air-launched AIM-7 missiles could potentially be loaded as well. Unlike the RIM-7 missiles, the AIM-7 does not have folding fins.

The photos are published alongside a story detailing the use of the ‘FrankenBuk,’ and a 22-year-old senior lieutenant, with the callsign “Chef,” who is one of the system’s operators — something he describes as “the best job in the world.” Chef confirms that the main targets that the FrankenBuk goes after are Russian cruise missiles and drones, while the presence of the Buk-series systems is normally enough to dissuade Russian crewed aircraft from entering the engagement envelope.

As it is, Chef has yet to down a crewed aircraft, but the scale of the drone threat is such that there are plentiful targets of this kind. “Unfortunately, the quantity of drones that the enemy is using is just enormous,” he says. “And it is not a secret at all that we do not have enough surface-to-air missile systems to effectively counteract in all directions of the threat, to cover hundreds of objects of critical infrastructure of Ukraine. We need many dozens more!”

Interestingly, Chef explains that, with the RIM-7 loaded, the range of the Buk-M1 system is somewhat reduced but doesn’t provide a figure. This means the FrankenBuk has to operate closer to the front lines, with its crews mitigating the threat of Russian attack by carefully choosing firing positions and using camouflage.

As we discussed in our previous analysis of the implications of the Buk/Sea Sparrow combination, which you can find here, it was expected that it would share many of the same disadvantages of the original naval point-defense system, including a relatively short range and a limited capacity to deal with faster targets. That is less of a problem when dealing with cruise missiles and drones, however.

In a maritime context, the range of the basic Sea Sparrow is limited to around 12 miles, although most engagements would be at a shorter range. The original 9M38 missiles used in the Buk-M1 have a range of around 22 miles — and improved high-altitude performance.

Back in January 2023, TWZ reported that Ukraine was to receive an undisclosed number of radar-guided RIM-7 missiles, to be integrated into existing Buk air defense systems.

Even then, however, there were reports that Ukraine had already succeeded in integrating the U.S.-made missiles into its Buk system. No further details of this “bit of battlefield innovation” were provided. There is a possibility, however, that the integration was informed by previous efforts to create a hybrid system of this kind.

Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, efforts had been made to convert the Buk’s predecessor, the 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) to fire the original Sparrow and/or Sea Sparrow missiles. These include a Polish design, involving a Kub adapted to fire RIM-7 missiles, as well as a Czech Kub upgrade that added three Aspide 2000 missiles in launch containers. The Aspide 2000 is an Italian-made SAM derived from the same AIM-7E that was used as the basis for the original RIM-7 Sea Sparrow.

At the same time, Ukraine’s FrankenBuk could have benefitted from U.S. direct experience with Soviet air defense systems; these may also have played a key role in clandestinely adapting the RIM-7 to the SA-11.

It’s worth noting, too, that there have been some other operational instances of the RIM-7 being adapted for ground-based applications, including with Egypt, Greece, and Taiwan, although these have been for defending fixed installations, not like the highly mobile Buk or Kub

It’s worth noting that the Buk/Sea Sparrow complex is not the only such FrankenSAM to have been developed.

Other examples include the Gravehawk, which uses repurposed Soviet-era heat-seeking R-73 air-to-air missiles as interceptors, mounted on an eight-wheeled Leyland DAF truck chassis. Gravehawk was developed by the United Kingdom and Denmark. The United Kingdom previously supplied Ukraine with a FrankenSAM that uses the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) as its interceptor and which is mounted on a 6×6 Supacat High Mobility Transporter (HMT).

Ukraine has also fielded modified 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) wheeled air defense vehicles armed with R-73 missiles instead of their usual 9M33 interceptors.

As we pointed out in the past, the FrankenBuk comes with a variety of limitations, even when compared to the original Soviet-era Buk-M1. On the other hand, with stocks of the original missiles running low, every little helps. While it’s no secret that Ukraine has long needed additional ground-based air defense capacity, this issue has only become more acute as Russia has stepped up its attacks using long-range one-way attack drones. So far, it seems that the FrankenBuk has proven to be an effective counter to this threat.

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