Ukraine has unveiled its latest ‘FrankenSAM,’ a surface-to-air missile system leveraging existing capabilities within the Ukrainian Armed Forces arsenal to help rapidly provide badly needed additional air defenses. The new system fires repurposed Soviet-era heat-seeking R-73 air-to-air missiles as interceptors and joins a growing list of ground-based air defense systems that make use of stocks of this same weapon. The R-73s primarily equip Ukraine’s Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter fleets.
Some details of the new system, the name of which has not yet been disclosed, were provided by the Ukrainian Militarnyi news outlet today. This describes a FrankenSAM “based on a classified platform,” using R-73s — an accompanying photo shows a turret-like launcher with rails for a pair of the missiles on the top. It’s not clear how mobile the system is, although its location in a field suggests that it is likely either self-propelled (on a wheeled or tracked chassis) or is otherwise mounted on a towed trailer. Regardless, it looks very compact. It should also be noted that there is a possibility that at least some aspects of the photo may have been manipulated to conceal parts of the system.
The same sources say that the system is in use with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of Air Defense and Missile Defense, with the suggestion that it may have been developed within that unit.
“Despite the advanced age of the equipment and its limited tactical and technical characteristics, we find opportunities for modernization and implementation of the latest approaches,” the brigade’s commander, Maksym Zaichenko, told Militarnyi.
Zaichenko adds that the R-73 offers the particular advantage of being a ‘fire and forget’ weapon, thanks to its infrared guidance. This means that the firing unit can “change its position after firing, so as not to expose itself to a retaliatory strike.” This would also suggest a relatively high level of mobility or at least portability.
This is not the first time that Ukraine has received ground-based air defense systems armed with adapted R-73 missiles.
Earlier this year, we got our first look at the containerized, R-73-based Gravehawk surface-to-air missile system, which the United Kingdom and Denmark developed for Ukraine.
The entire Gravehawk system fits inside a modified ISO shipping container with a retractable roof, and it’s intended to be emplaced on the ground before use, although it’s unclear if it can be employed while it is still on the back of the truck that transports it. The truck apparently associated with Gravehawk is an eight-wheeled Leyland DAF design equipped with the Demountable Rack Offload and Pickup System (DROPS), which is capable of relatively quickly loading and unloading containers.
Perhaps, the new R-73-based system now revealed as being in use with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is operated in a similar way, but without more imagery, we can’t say for certain.
For targeting, Gravehawk uses a retractable sensor system containing at least one infrared sensor to spot and track targets and cue the R-73 missiles to them. Again, this is the kind of hardware that could also find its way onto the newly revealed surface-to-air missile system.
Similar, if not identical sensors, also appear on another kind of FrankenSAM that the United Kingdom previously supplied Ukraine. However, this uses the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) as its interceptor rather than the R-73 and is mounted on a 6×6 Supacat High Mobility Transporter (HMT).
Using passive infrared sensors means that the system is not vulnerable to detection by Russian electronic warfare systems, unlike surface-to-air missile systems that rely on active radars. On the new R-73-based system there is also no evidence of an integral radar, although that remains a possibility. Datalinks could also feed the system general situational awareness and targeting data. An array of mushroom-shaped fairings atop the new system are intriguing. The purpose of these is unclear, but they could be related to some kind of passive radio-frequency detection system.
As TWZ has previously written about the R-73, also known to NATO as the AA-11 Archer:
“The R-73, in air-launched form, has a maximum range of 18.6 miles against a head-on target of 8.7 miles against a tail-on target. A ground-launched application would have reduced range since the missile wouldn’t benefit from the speed and altitude parameters of the launch aircraft. In this case, it’s perhaps more relevant to look at the seeker range of the R-73, which would remain broadly the same for ground launch: 6.2-7.5 miles.”
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“The R-73 is a high-off-boresight (HOBS) weapon, with a seeker that can articulate in any direction much farther than a traditional heat-seeking air-to-air missile with a fixed non-HOBS seeker that stares directly forward. Aided by a helmet-mounted sight, the Archer can be launched in air-to-air engagements against targets with off-boresight angles of +/-75 degrees. This gives the R-73 the potential to be a particularly potent, albeit improvised threat for locking onto and engaging dynamic targets with minimal assisting sensors when used in a surface-launched form.”
It would appear that, like Gravehawk, the new system relies to a significant degree on the R-73’s HOBS seeker since the launch rails otherwise offer a fixed field of fire. The launch rails themselves appear to be the same APU-73 adapters that provide the usual interface between the R-73 and an aircraft pylon.
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. This is notable for being a domestic initiative combining a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile vehicle with Soviet-era air-to-air missiles.
The Ukrainian military has also introduced R-73-armed uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), an application known locally as the Sea Dragon.
It would seem likely that the new R-73-based surface-to-air missile system is especially relevant when it comes to dealing with Russian long-range kamikaze drones and cruise missile threats. Ultimately, it might also be intended for static employment defending critical infrastructure. Regardless, the capabilities of the R-73 also make it capable of engaging fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
While the missile rails seen in the one photo published so far are specifically for R-73s, it’s also possible that the new systems could be adapted to fire other missiles like the aforementioned ASRAAM or U.S.-made AIM-9 Sidewinders, which Ukraine has also received.
Many questions about the new surface-to-air missile system remain — not least what it’s called. However, its appearance underlines the fact that Ukraine has plentiful stocks of R-73s and suggests that these missiles are judged to be a very useful addition to its air defense arsenal.
Furthermore, the appearance of the new system is another reminder that Ukraine is still badly in need of additional air defenses, with Western allies so far only providing relatively modest numbers of admittedly generally very capable systems. While there have been repeated warnings that Ukraine’s stocks of missiles for its existing Soviet-era air defense systems might run out, repurposing R-73s for the same role currently seems to be a useful stopgap.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com