An air defence missile brigade of the Central Military District’s 41st Combined-Arms Army, which is stationed in the Altai Territory in south Siberia, has received advanced Buk-M3 (NATO reporting name: SA-17 Grizzly) air defence missile systems in 2019, the Defense Ministry’s press office said.

Buk-M3 air defense system (Picture source: Army Recognition)

"The first live-firing exercise with the use of the new systems will take place in 2020 at a training range in the Astrakhan Region [in south Russia]. Before the exercise, the brigade will undergo conversion training at a Defense Ministry specialized training centre," the press office said.

The Buk-M3 medium-range air defence system is designed to destroy all types of aerial vehicles in all engagement ranges, radiocontrast ground targets and surface targets in conditions of intensive fire and electronic counteraction.

The Buk-M3 is superior to the S-300 (SA-10 Grumble) air defence missile system by a number of characteristics, including the kill probability. The Buk-M3 system has a range of 70 kilometres (43.5 miles), which is 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) more compared to its previous versions. The Buk-M3 has a maximum firing altitude of 35 kilometres (21.7 miles). It can also eliminate ballistic missiles with a launch range of 150-200 kilometres (93-124 miles).

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