SPS63 9M38 SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE DISPLAY RACKS & MISSILE CONTAINER

The 9K37 Buk is a mobile anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system of Soviet, and currently Russian, production. The first prototypes of this system appeared in the late 1970s, and it entered service in the Soviet Army in 1979 or 1980. The basic guided missile of this system is assumed to be approximately 5.5 m long, with a weight of approximately 690 kg, of which the warhead weighs approximately 70 kg. The 9K37 Buk was developed as a successor to the 2K12 Kub system. Its main purpose is to fight maneuvering airplanes, helicopters, but also cruise missiles and short and medium-range missiles. It is assumed that the system - in its original version - was capable of engaging targets at a distance of up to 22 kilometers. However, with the introduction of new versions of the system into service, such as the 9K37M-1 or 9K317E versions (produced since 2007), this range increased to 50-60 kilometers. With the development of the system, the number of missiles that could be directed to the target also increased: from 1-2 in the basic version to 24 in the 9K317E version. The system was and is still quite widely exported and outside the Russian Federation, it was or is also used in: Algeria, Belarus, the PRC or Ukraine.