NATO has rejected calls from Ukraine to impose a 'no-fly zone' over the country.
A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine.
Declaring a no-fly zone could force NATO pilots to shoot down Russian aircraft.
Technically, it would mean taking the risk of a direct military conflict with Russia,
and a potential nuclear exchange.
This is the reason, imposing a 'No Fly Zone' is extremely unlikely, but the West can help
Ukraine better defend the skies.
Apart from many Man-portable air-defense systems or MANPADS which are short-range, it will
be very helpful for Ukraine if medium and long-range SAM or Surface to Air Missile systems
is provided to the country.
This will probably work even better than transferring fighter jets, Russian aircraft have already
proven to be vulnerable against land based air defense system.
It is to be noted that, unlike MANPADS, Ukrainian Forces will need extensive training before
they can use Western SAMs, which is not possible amidst this raging conflict.
Hence, the best bet will be the Soviet or Russian-made systems that are available to
friendly countries, which Ukraine already operates.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes 5 air defense systems that can help Ukraine counter
Russian aerial might.
Let's get into the details.
The 9K35 Strela-10 is a short-range surface-to-air missile system.
Its NATO reporting name is SA-13 "Gopher".
The system is primarily intended to engage low-altitude threats, such as helicopters.
The 9K35 is the successor of the 9K31 Strela-1.
The system is mobile and uses tracked chassis.
It is visually aimed, and utilizes optical, or infrared-guidance.
Strela-10 employs several kinds of infrared-guided missiles that include 9M37, and 9M333.
It can engage targets out to a range of 5 km or 3.1 miles.
Ukraine is thought to have at least 75 examples of the Strela-10 in service, and hence already
have personnel capable of operating the system.
The Strela-10 is present in many NATO countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
The S-125 Neva, or Pechora, which has NATO reporting name of SA-3 Goa, is a Soviet era
surface-to-air missile system.
It was designed to complement the S-25, and S-75.
The system has an effective range of 35 km, or 22 mi, and an engagement altitude of 18,000
m or 59,000 ft.
The 5V24 (V-600) missiles in the system reach speed of around Mach 3 to 3.5.
It is a two stage missile, and both stages are powered by solid fuel rocket motors.
The range is shorter than either of its predecessors, and also flies slower, but due to its two-stage
design, it is more effective against more maneuverable targets.
It is also able to engage lower flying targets than the previous systems, and being more
modern it is much more resistant to Electronic Counter Measures than the S-75.
The S-125, like the S-75, uses radio command guidance.
The Ukrainian S-125 were withdrawn, but were later pulled out from retirement after Russia
annexed Crimea.
Within NATO, only Bulgaria and Poland still have some of these systems in active service.
Importantly, both countries have modernized them, and hence could be a very effective
weapon for Ukraine.
The Buk, also known as Beech, is an air defense missile system that was developed to replace
the Kub.
Its industrial designation is 9K37.
Its reporting name in the West is SA-11 or Gadfly.
Development of this system commenced in 1972.
It was a successor to the Kub-M3.
It entered service with the Soviet Army in 1980.
Buk-M1, originally known as Buk-M is an upgraded version of the Buk.
It also got a new NATO reporting name, Grizzly, and has the designation, SA-17.
It has improved resistance to electronic countermeasures and anti-radiation missiles.
A new missile named 9M38M1 was introduced for this system.
It can counter cruise missiles, smart bombs, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and unmanned
aerial vehicles.
Each of the tracked TEL vehicles carried four ready-to-fire missiles, as well as the fire
control radar.
The maximum engagement range of the missile is 22 miles, or 35 km and take out targets
at up to 45,000 feet, or around 13,700 m.
While no NATO nations have it, Finland is known to have some of these, and they are
in working condition.
Since, Finland has passed on some armament to Ukraine, Buk-M1 could potentially be transferred
too.
The Tor is an all-weather low to medium altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system
designed for destroying airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles, precision guided munitions,
unmanned aerial vehicles and short-range ballistic threats.
Originally developed by the Soviet Union with designation 9K330 Tor, the system is commonly
known by its NATO reporting name, SA-15 "Gauntlet".
Tor was also the first air defence system in the world designed from the start to shoot
down precision guided weapons like the American AGM-86, Air Launched Cruise Missile, day and
night, in bad weather and jamming situations.
Tor can detect targets while on the move but needs to stop to fire missiles.
Tor can hit targets at a range of 25 km, or 15.5 miles, and up to 20,000 feet or around
6,000 m in altitude.
The 9M330 missile in Tor is 3 metres, or 9.8 ft long, and weighs 167 kilograms, or 368
lb.
It carries a 15 kilograms or 33 lb warhead, and has a peak speed of around Mach 2.8 . Using
command guidance and radar controlled proximity fuzes, the missile can maneuver at up to 30G,
and engage targets flying at up to Mach 2.
Ukrainian Ground Forces is thought to have at-least 6 of these in active service.
Within NATO, Greece is the only nation to operate the Tor, and is reported to have 25
of these.
The S-300 which has a NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble, is a family of initially Soviet,
and later Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz.
It was designed to replace the aging Soviet S-25 Berkut and S-75 Dvina mobile SAM systems
and to address the emerging threat of long-range air-based cruise missiles.
The S-300 is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded,
and is the predecessor of dreaded S-400 Air Defense system.
It has several variants like S-300 P.T.
, S-300 PS and S-300 PMU.
Interestingly in 1994, the United States acquired components of the system from Belarus and
in 1995, it purchased a number of missiles, launchers, and a command and control element
for the system for testing purposes
S-300 uses different kinds of radars and multiple types of missiles to cover its strike envelop.
The system has a maximum range of 150 km or 93 miles depending on the variant, and kind
of the missile used.
Ukraine has been operating several of these system and even after more than 2 weeks , Russia
has not been able to knock out all of these.
The system has reportedly destroyed at-least four Russian Su-25 attack aircraft and several
helicopters Three NATO member countries: Bulgaria, Greece
and Slovakia have the system .