A Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet targeted a Russian air defense system using an American-made AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile. The strike was carried out in support of a Ukrainian fighter group, with participation from a pilot of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to Militarnyi, the missile impact triggered a detonation of onboard munitions within the Russian surface-to-air missile system. Drone operators monitoring the operation captured footage of a secondary explosion. Additionally, the strike may have caused an unintended launch of a solid-fuel surface-to-air missile.
The video footage isn’t clear enough to definitively identify the exact model of the Russian surface-to-air missile system. However, analysts suggest that the observed missile behavior and radar emissions during the strike are consistent with either the Buk or Tor air defense systems. The presence of an active radar at the time of the strike confirms that the Ukrainian fighter jet used an AGM-88 HARM missile, which is specifically designed to home in on radar signals.
Ukraine has been using AGM-88 HARM missiles since mid-2022, deploying them effectively to suppress Russian air defense systems along the front line. The HARM is a high-speed, American-made anti-radiation missile with a flight range of over 100 kilometers. Depending on the variant and deployment conditions, its range can reach up to 300 kilometers.
Ukrainian military engineers, with assistance from U.S. specialists, managed to integrate these missiles with older Soviet-era aircraft such as the MiG-29 and Su-27. This adaptation allows Ukrainian forces to target and damage Russian surface-to-air missile systems, disrupting their radar operations and degrading the effectiveness of enemy air defenses.
Due to the technical challenges of integration and the specific tactics involved, clear footage of successful HARM missile deployments is extremely rare. In fact, the video in question may be one of the first publicly released clips showing an actual strike on a Russian air defense system using an American AGM-88 HARM missile.
As a reminder, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) recently carried out a unique operation called “Pavutyna” (“Web”). The operation involved a coordinated drone strike on Russian airbases, using dozens of UAVs to target strategic aviation assets. Preliminary reports indicate that Ukraine managed to hit 41 Russian aircraft, including A-50 airborne early warning planes, Tu-95 bombers, and Tu-22M3s. These represent around 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers stationed at major airfields. The estimated value of the damaged or destroyed aircraft is roughly $7 billion.
Source: defence-blog
