The journalists of The Drive write that they managed to confirm from their own sources the information of the Politico publication that the Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles transferred to Ukraine will be adapted for launch from the Soviet-made Buk anti-aircraft missile systems.
They did not manage to find out other details, in particular how the Sea Sparrow will be adapted to the Soviet-era Buk air defense systems. Therefore, the authors of The Drive decided to analyze the data available from open sources.
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At the turn of the 2010s, at least two companies from Eastern Europe showed their designs for adapting the 2K12 Kub air defense system to the Sea Sparrow (or variations of this missile).
The first one is from the Polish Wojskowe Zakłady Uzbrojenia (WZU), the presentation took place in 2008, the launch guides did not undergo significant modification. As a development of the topic, the Polish WZU also showed an option to adapt the Kub air defense system to RIM-162 ESSM anti-aircraft missiles. In this case, the original containers for launching the RIM-162 ESSM were mounted on the standard launch guides of the Kub air defense system.
There were no buyers for both of these air defense systems, so all these developments remained at the stage of experimental specimens.
A similar fate befell the Czech Retia project presented in 2011. In this story, Czech engineers installed launch containers from the Aspide air defense system on the Cube, designed to launch AIM-7E anti-aircraft missiles, on the basis of which the Sea Sparrow was developed.
Such a development also did not find its buyer. But it is quite possible, as the journalists of The Drive suggest, that the above-described developments formed the basis of the decisions that helped to adapt the Buk air defense system to the Sea Sparrow for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Although, of course, we should not ignore such differences in mass and size, which introduce their own nuances into the technological process. The Sea Sparrow has a body length of 3.7 meters, a fuselage diameter and wingspan of 20 cm and 1.2 meters, respectively, and the weight of the equipped missile is 230 kg.
Instead, the 9M38 to the Buk air defense system has a body length of 5.5 meters, a fuselage diameter and wingspan of 40 cm and 80 cm, respectively, and the weight of the equipped missile is 690 kg.
The authors of The Drive also shared their thoughts on why such a tandem was chosen - "Sea Sparrow missile + Buk air defense system".
Even in the marine version, the Sea Sparrow demonstrates adaptability to different types of launchers – beam, box-type horizontal or vertical universal launchers. Moreover, Taiwan (Republic of China), Egypt and Greece use the Sea Sparrow to fire from the land-based Aspide air defense system, and there are no problems with compatibility here.
The Buk air defense system is standardly equipped with missiles of the 9M38 family with semi-active radar guidance, similar to the Sea Sparrow, which should also simplify the integration of this anti-aircraft missile into the air defense system. And at the same time - to strengthen the capabilities of the Buk air defense system in the fight against cruise missiles and low-flying drones of the russians.
As Defense Express reported, The U.S. Announced New Aid Package of Weapons for Ukraine.
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