Buk-M3

Russia’s latest tracked medium-range surface-to-air missile system — a 6-missile canisterized TELAR that brings active-radar fire-and-forget interceptors up to 70 km, thickening the lower tier of Moscow’s integrated air defense.

Overview

The Buk-M3 (GRAU 9K317M, NATO reporting name SA-27 “Gollum”) is the most advanced variant of the Buk family, a road-mobile medium-range SAM that has formed a core layer of Russian ground-based air defense since the Soviet era. Developed by Almaz-Antey and fielded primarily with the Russian Aerospace Forces, the M3 replaces the exposed-rail launchers of earlier Buks with a six-missile canisterized transporter-erector-launcher-and-radar (TELAR) and introduces an active-radar seeker, enabling genuine fire-and-forget engagements against aircraft, cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles, PGMs and drones.

Development

Almaz-Antey began development of the Buk-M3 in the early 2010s as a comprehensive modernization of the 9K37M1-2/M2 lineage. The system first appeared in state testing around 2013 and formally entered service with the Russian Ground Forces circa 2016, according to Army Recognition. The jump from the Buk-M2 (SA-17 “Grizzly”) to the M3 was substantial: a completely redesigned TELAR with six containerized missiles instead of four exposed rails, a new phased-array engagement radar, and the all-new 9M317M/9R31M interceptor family. NATO assigned the reporting name “Gollum” to differentiate the M3 from the older Grizzly, as recorded in the NATO reporting names list.

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