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also includes the delivery of MIM-23 Hawk
missiles, signifying the revival of an old system.
The Hawk system dates back to the 1960s but
has undergone continuous modernization.
The United States retired it in 2002, but they still
have enough missiles stored in warehouses.
Currently, around 20 countries still use it and
could supply it to Ukraine. Spain did so already
in November of the previous year, providing its
MIM-23 missiles in the Phase III version from
the late '80s and early '90s. However, it turned
out that the Spanish systems were in very poor
technical condition and needed comprehensive
repair and modernization. Now, the MIM-23 Hawk
has arrived in Ukraine for the second attempt.
The system has a range of 40 km horizontally and
18 km vertically. Ukrainians used them for the
first time on the night of October 22-23, shooting
down several Shahid drones and one Ch-59
cruise missile.
Further projects within the FrankenSAM
program are more complex. One was initiated by
Ukrainians who had around 60 Buk launcher units
but lacked missiles. They asked foreign partners
if they could modify them for the use of Western
missiles. American engineers modified them to
be able to launch RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles.
According to an article in the New York Times,
this conversion took seven months, and currently,
Americans can modify five Buk systems per
month. The range of these missiles is 19 km.
Ukraine also received AIM-9M Sidewinder
missiles from the USA modified for ground use.
Originally, they are short-range air-to-air missiles
with infrared guidance. Details about their
launching system are not yet known, but there
is speculation that they could be launched from
self-propelled Osa systems (NATO code name
Gecko). Soviet radars, of which Ukraine has plenty,
are supposed to take care of target acquisition.
Even more interesting is the connection between
old Soviet radars and American missiles in the
latest known project from the FrankenSAM
program. This time it involves Patriot missiles
that the USA would deliver. Other allies would
provide the launching systems. Testing is
currently underway, and during the winter,
Ukraine could receive Patriot missiles connected
to Soviet radars. The first test of this combination
took place in October at the rocket range in New
Mexico, successfully destroying a target drone.
Czech Trace
Finally, let's mention one curiosity that is
only remotely related to the air war but could be
interesting for Czech and Slovak readers. The
Ukrainian 241st Territorial Defense Brigade has
included the Oksana self-propelled gun in its
armament, based on the Tatra 815 chassis. This
truck was manufactured in Czechoslovakia since
1982, and a modified version is still produced
in the Czech Republic nowadays. However,
Ukrainians used the original vehicles with
original cabins. Photos reveal versions AV-15,
which was originally a crane vehicle, and version
20-VP, a flatbed truck for container transport.
On the deck of these 8x8 vehicles, Ukrainians
mounted old Soviet 100 mm caliber anti-aircraft
guns KS-19 dating back to 1947. Now, of course,
they are not used for fighting aircraft but for
shelling ground targets. Their range in this role is
21 km. The advantage of the KS-19 cannons is that
no other weapon uses 100mm caliber ammunition,
so Ukrainians have plenty. The disadvantage is
that this weapon requires a large crew and is
also very heavy. For comparison, the American
howitzer M777 caliber 155mm weighs 4.2 tons,
while the KS-19 cannon weighs almost 10 tons.
Old Maxim machine guns will also
come into play.
There are few shots of IRIS
-
T systems in Ukraine. If any are published,
they conceal their place of deployment.
The Ukrainian army aviation published a series of shots of Mi-8 helicopter winter operations.
Ukrainian two-seater Su-27UB.
Ukrainian self-propelled artillery Oksana
on the chassis of Tatra 815 8x8 AV-15.
This version of Oksana is on the chassis
of Tatra 815 8x8 20-VP.
An older photo of the Ukrainian S-300 system in action.
HISTORY
INFO Eduard
35
January 2024