Category
Latest news

Ukrainian Marines and National Guard Blow Up Russian Osa-AKM Air-Defense System Hiding Under Camouflage

2 min read
Authors
Photo of Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
News Writer
Belarus' OSA-AKM and S-300 air defense systems move to firing positions during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 near the village of Volka, 200km southwest of Minsk, on September 19, 2017. (Source: Getty Images)
Belarus' OSA-AKM and S-300 air defense systems move to firing positions during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 near the village of Volka, 200km southwest of Minsk, on September 19, 2017. (Source: Getty Images)

Ukrainian Naval and National Guard forces reported they destroyed a Russian 9K33 Osa-AKM short-range surface-to-air missile system after it was detected and tracked by Marine Corps drone operators and struck with corrected fires and precision follow-up by an NGU unit, according to the Ukrainian Navy on October 29.

The Navy said operators from the 426th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion of the 30th Marine Corps Brigade located the TELAR (transporter-erector-launcher and radar vehicle), then adjusted fire while ground troops from the National Guard’s “Lasar’s Group” carried out the final strike.

Ukrainian statements add that Russian crews tried to hide the vehicle, but aerial reconnaissance and fire correction made the system visible and vulnerable to precision attack.

Kyiv also noted that the Osa family remains a core element of Russia’s forward army air-defense screen and that, since the full-scale invasion began, Russian forces have lost at least 32 Osa-type systems to destruction or capture—a tally attributed to Ukrainian tracking and battlefield reporting.

The Soviet-era 9K33 Osa (NATO: SA-8 “Gecko”) is a highly mobile, short-range air-defense system built as an all-in-one TELAR that integrates search/tracking radar and a six-round launcher on a wheeled chassis.

Designed to protect ground forces from low- and medium-altitude threats, upgraded Osa variants such as the Osa-AKM remain in frontline service for point defense of formations and logistics nodes.

Earlier, the scouts of Ukraine’s “Chornyi Lis” brigade successfully hunted down and destroyed a latest-model Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system.

See all