Azerbaijan displays newly acquired SAM systems
09/07/2013 10:10
Video footage of the 26 June armed forces day parade in Baku has indicated Azerbaijan recently acquired Soviet/Russian-designed Buk-M1 or M2 (SA-17 'Grizzly') surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.
A Buk SAM system specialist loader-launcher vehicle pictured during the 26 June 2013 armed forces day parade in Baku, Azerbaijan. (PA)
The video shows nine Buk launchers - a full battalion - of the medium-range SAM system. The Azeri Buk launchers appear to carry the original Buk (SA-11 'Gadfly') radar, but have the newer 9M317 missile from the upgraded Buk-M1 and Buk-M2 systems.
One Azeri media outlet referred to the hybrid system as the Buk-MB, which, according to IHS Jane's data, is a digital upgrade of the basic Buk system conducted by the Agat Research and Development Enterprise: a Minsk-based state research and manufacturing organisation.