The Azerbaijani armed forces have received a second battalion of Belarus-upgraded Buk-MB medium range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.
Details of the deliveries were revealed to IHS Jane's by a military-diplomatic source at the ADEX-2014 international defence exhibition in Baku.
According to the source, two battalions of Buk-MB SAMs have now been delivered to the Azerbaijan Armed Forces. Each battalion comprises six 9A310 MB self-propelled launchers, three 9A39 MB launcher loaders, 9M38M1 and 9M317 surface-to-air missiles, a 80K6M radar, a 9S470 MB combat control post, and logistics support equipment.
Azerbaijan's first battalion of Buk-MB SAMs was seen for the first time at the Azerbaijan armed forces day parade in June 2013. OKB TSP, the developer of the Buk-MB SAM, has been upgrading former Russian Buk SAM systems in Belarus under a contract awarded directly from Azerbaijan in 2010.
The Buk-MB is an in-depth modernization of the Buk system, involving a thorough overhaul and complete replacement of their subsystems and subassemblies. Azerbaijan's Buk-MB SAMs use Russian-made 9M38M1 and 9M317 single-stage solid fuel guided missiles. The 9M38M1 missiles have a speed of 850 m/s, range of 35 km, operational altitude of 22.5 km, and aerial target hit probability of 0.71. The 9M317 SAM have a velocity 1,230 m/s, range of 42 km, operational altitude 25 km and aerial target hit probability of 0.78.
Kazakhstan and some other countries, including African nations, have shown an interest in the Buk-MB system, the source told IHS Jane's . "Some of them (African nations) seek to obtain the Buk SAMs but cannot afford acquiring a battalion in standard configuration. Therefore it is possible to offer them a SAM configuration with four launchers since the system itself can be easily reconfigured. Also, the Buk-MB can be interesting to some countries of Latin America and the Middle East."
OKB TSP stated its Buk variant is designed for countries unable to independently develop military equipment and that find the defence products of the leading manufacturers of military hardware too costly. "All the obsolete equipment of the SAMs has been replaced by modern counterparts from Belarus. In creating the Buk-MB more than 100 new devices and subsystems have been developed, which became key components of the modernized system," a report at the enterprise's stand said.
The Buk-MB is made from new components and fitted with modern automatic work stations and large liquid crystal displays. The introduction of digital signal processing technology has fully automated fault diagnosis of the entire instrumentation package. The OKB TSP representatives pointed out that though each launcher of the system addresses a target through a single channel, its six channels in the standard SAM configuration make the system fully adequate for countering air threats in today's operational conditions.
Bakudaily.Az
