Ukraine is probably the only army in the world that has weapons‘Frankensam’. This term, which comes from the contraction between Frankenstein and Sam (Surface to Air Missile or Missile Tierra-Aire), arises from Ukraine’s arms needs after the invasion of Russia that began in 2022. Refers to Build new Sam systems with what has been at hand, little more or lessand in these three years there have been a few examples to which a new Frankensam has now been added that Use as an air-air-73 missile interceptors of the Soviet era, here as Earth-Aire missiles, which Ukraine has in abundance. This system has already been used successfully giving coverage to units in combat missions.
According to the military Ukrainian news media, this new Frankensam, whose name is unknown, is Based on a classified platform and use the infrared guide missiles that normally use the SU-27 and MiG-29 fighters of Ukraine. In the image published by the middle, you can see behind a soldier a launcher similar to a turret with rails and a couple of missiles at the top. Is A mobile systemalthough it cannot be specified whether it is mounted on a chassis with chains or, most likely, wheels. It is not known either If it is self -propelled or it is a trailer.
This Frankensam is in service with the 3rd separate assault brigade and missile defense. Your commander, Maksym Zaicenkoaffirms the environment that:
‘Despite the advanced age of the team and its limited tactical and technical characteristics, We find opportunities for the modernization and implementation of the latest approaches‘.
According to Zaicenko, the R-73 missiles, which entered service in 1985, offer The advantage of being a weapon ‘shoots and forgets’a type of armament system that, once launched or triggered, It does not require the operator to continue guiding or controlling the projectile towards the target. To do this, they use a system of Autonomous guided that, in this case, it is for infrared: The missile detects the heat emitted by the target, such as the engines of an airplane, and follows it autonomously. This also allows the launch unit to change its position after making fire, avoiding exposing yourself to the enemy’s counterattack.
The use of passive infrared sensors makes The system is less vulnerable to the detection by Russian electronic warning systemscompared to Earth-Aire missile systems that depend on active radars, The War Zone points out in the specialized environment.
The R-73 missile, known by the NATO as AA-11 Archerhas a maximum range of 30 kilometers in aerial launches against frontal objectives and around 14 kilometers against pursuit objectives. In a launch from the ground, the scope is reduced by not benefiting from the speed and altitude of the air launch, although the range of the search engine remains between 10 and 12 kilometers. This can be oriented in any direction, which makes it a particularly weapon Effective against moving objectives.