9A390M1 "Buk-M1"/ SA-11 "Gadfly" TELAR
If the Cold War would have turned hot, Soviet forces in Europe would face potentially overwhelming NATO air power. To offset this, Red Army doctrine emphasised integrating surface-based air defences into its mechanised units. Early Soviet SAMs, such as the S-75 "Dvina:/ SA-2 "Guideline" were could not move with the troops. The later 2K12 "Kub"/ SA-6 "Gainful", introduced in the late sixties, included mobile missile erector-launchers on tracked chassis and separate tracked vehicles with surveillance and guidance radars and were much more mobile. The launchers used for its replacement, the "Buk" system (beech), include their own guidance radars, which makes them TELARs (transporter-erector-launcher, radar), for more flexibility. The vehicles can even operate independently, if necessary, although the volume that can be scanned by the radar is very limited.
9A390M1 "Buk-M1"/ SA-11 "Gadfly" TELAR
If the Cold War would have turned hot, Soviet forces in Europe would face potentially overwhelming NATO air power. To offset this, Red Army doctrine emphasised integrating surface-based air defences into its mechanised units. Early Soviet SAMs, such as the S-75 "Dvina:/ SA-2 "Guideline" were could not move with the troops. The later 2K12 "Kub"/ SA-6 "Gainful", introduced in the late sixties, included mobile missile erector-launchers on tracked chassis and separate tracked vehicles with surveillance and guidance radars and were much more mobile. The launchers used for its replacement, the "Buk" system (beech), include their own guidance radars, which makes them TELARs (transporter-erector-launcher, radar), for more flexibility. The vehicles can even operate independently, if necessary, although the volume that can be scanned by the radar is very limited.