Russia offers weapons more powerful than S-300
At the Army-2018 Exhibition, Russia introduced a series of new, extremely advanced weapons, including the Buk-M3 - a weapon that is considered to have many advantages over the S-300.
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| According to the manufacturer's introduction at the exhibition, this weapon is more powerful than the S-300, defeats Western MEADS in the international market and is capable of defeating any stealth target within range. |
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| The Buk-M3 system completed state testing in the summer of 2016 and entered combat duty in late 2016. The structure of each Buk-M3 missile complex is similar to previous Buk variants, including a command vehicle, a radar vehicle, a self-propelled transporter-launcher vehicle, and an executive launcher-supply vehicle. |
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| However, the Buk-M3 is superior to its predecessors not only due to the longer range of the missile, but also due to the ability to carry more missiles on the launcher and the ability to detect and track 36 flying targets simultaneously. Specifically, the Buk-M3 uses the 9A317M self-propelled launcher that can carry 6 missiles on the launcher-transporter with a multifunctional phased array radar from the Avtoritet company. |
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| The 9A316M launcher-loader of the Buk-M3 missile complex can carry up to 12 missiles, including 6 ready missiles on the launcher and 6 reserve missiles on the tray right under the launcher. |
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| The Buk-M3 uses the 9M317M missile, a modernized variant of the 9M317 missile, developed by the NIIP scientific research institute for both the Russian army and navy. The 9M317M missile began development in the 2000s and was first introduced at the Defendory International 2006 exhibition in Greece, with a launch range of up to 70km, an altitude of 35km, and a supersonic speed of nearly Mach 10. |
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| The 9M317M missile uses solid fuel, is 5.08 m long, 0.36 m in diameter and has a wingspan of 0.82 m. The missile is capable of destroying targets flying at a maximum speed of 3,000 m/s, at a distance of 2.5-70 km and an altitude of 15 m to 35 km. |
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| The 9M317M is equipped with a multi-mode homing head including inertial mode with mid-phase radio correction and active mobile Doppler radar in the terminal phase. It has a 62kg warhead, applies the proximity explosion method, creating a directional fragmentation beam to increase the probability of destroying the target in a heavily jammed environment. |
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| The most notable feature is that in addition to being used for Buk-M2 and Buk-M3 missile systems, the 9M317M missile is also used on the Shtil-1 ship-based air defense missile systems of the Russian Navy. It can be stored in storage without regular maintenance for up to 15 years. |
