A senior Ukrainian military official said his country’s forces want to replace the Soviet-era Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile systems with modern NASAMS systems.
Deputy Chief of the Anti-Aircraft Missile Forces of the Ukrainian Air Forces Colonel Yuriy Andriychuk said Thursday that the NASAMS with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles is will be a better replacement for the ageing Buk-M1 medium-range surface-to-air missile system.
The NASAMS is an acronym for Norwegian (which Raytheon calls “National“ in U.S. service) Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System. It consists of two to four launchers with associated radars, with each launcher carrying six Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAM.
Raytheon says the NASAMS provides air defenders with a tailorable, state-of-the-art defense system that can maximize their ability to identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle and emerging cruise missile threats.
Built on a modular, distributed, open-hardware and software architecture, NASAMS is positioned to embrace new technologies, capabilities and features.It does not need to be tied to a particular radar type.
NASAMS is owned by 12 countries and has been integrated into the U.S. National Capital Region’s air defense system since 2005. In addition to the U.S., Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands, Oman, Lithuania, Indonesia, Australia, Qatar, Hungary and one undisclosed country have chosen to depend on NASAMS for homeland defense and the defense of critical assets.
