David Axe reports in Forbes:
The Ukrainians began modifying their Soviet air-defenses to fire Western missiles. Dubbed “FrankenSAMs,” one of them just shot down it’s first target, a Russian Shahed drone. The shoot-down took place at a range of three miles during a Wednesday morning raid by 20 Shaheds, 19 of which the Ukrainians shot down. There are three versions. A Soviet-vintage Buk air-defense vehicle that fires American-made Sea Sparrow missiles; a Soviet Osa firing American Sidewinder missiles; and a third hybrid that combines U.S.-made Patriot missiles with Soviet radars.A year ago, Ukrainian commanders were worried their Soviet-vintage air-defense batteries were running out of missiles. New Western radars, surface-to-air missiles and flak guns were en route, but slowly.
So the Ukrainians apparently looked west—to Poland and the Czech Republic—and did what industry in those countries did years ago. They began modifying their old Soviet air-defenses to fire Western missiles.
Officials dubbed these hybrids “FrankenSAMs.” One of them just shot down the type’s first target, a Russian Shahed drone.
According to Ukrainian strategic industries minister Oleksandr Kamyshin, the shoot-down took place at a range of nearly three miles during a Wednesday morning raid by 20 Shaheds, 19 of which the Ukrainians shot down.
It’s unclear which FrankenSAM shot down the Shahed. There are three versions. A Soviet-vintage Buk air-defense vehicle that fires American-made Sea Sparrow missiles; another Soviet vehicle—an Osa, perhaps—firing American Sidewinder missiles; and a third hybrid that combines U.S.-made Patriot missiles apparently with Soviet radars.
The Buk hybrid should be able to engage targets as far away as 10 miles with a radar-guided Sea Sparrow; a hybrid firing an infrared-guided Sidewinder might have a somewhat shorter range; a third hybrid firing the radar-guided Patriot would have the longest range: 90 miles or so.
The shorter-range hybrids reportedly underwent testing in the United States in the fall; the long-range one may still be in development.
This disparity makes sense. The Buk and possible Osa hybrids both have precedents. As long ago as 2012, a Polish company was pitching what amounted to a Buk-Sea Sparrow combo to foreign buyers.
Polish missile-maker WZU paired a Kub launcher—the Buk’s progenitor—with the latest Sea Sparrow model, the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile. But there’s no reason the same family of launcher with the same modifications to its fire-controls wouldn’t also work with the older Sea Sparrow.
Around the same time, Czech firm Retia built, for Czech army trials, a Kub firing Aspide missiles. The Aspide is Italy’s answer to the Sea Sparrow.
A few years later, WZU tested German-made IRIS-T missiles on its upgraded Osa launchers. If an Osa can fire infrared-guided IRIS-Ts, it should be able to fire Sidewinders, too.
The hybrid Patriot system really is the only one of Ukraine’s FrankenSAMs that requires from-scratch design. It might also be the least urgent of the hybrids.
Ukraine has at least three Patriot batteries, each with radars and a half-dozen or so quad-launchers. Batteries apparently protect Kyiv and Kharkiv; a third battery travels along the southern front, ambushing Russian warplanes.
While Ukrainian commanders surely want more Patriot batteries—even FrankenPatriots might suffice—their more immediate problem is missiles, not launchers.
Ukraine’s arsenal of Patriot PAC-2 missiles began to run low in December, around the same time U.S. military aid for Ukraine also ran low. Pro-Russia Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for months have refused to vote on $61 billion in fresh funding for Ukraine.
The Patriot missile shortage is so dire that U.S. officials late last year negotiated an unprecedented buyback deal with Japanese officials. Japan would sell back to the United States dozens of Patriot missiles in order to replenish U.S. stocks—and make it easier for the United States to transfer missiles to Ukraine.
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