While the issue of the controversial S-400 sales to Turkey continues to be on top of the political news, Russia has unveiled a number of other advanced surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems in versions available for export. Among SAMs making their public debut at the Army 18 exhibition in late August were the 9K317M Viking and the Sosna. The Strela-10MN, a recent modernization of the Soviet-era Strela-10M3 was also on show.
The Viking is a new addition to the family of medium-range SAMs that Tikhomirov’s Scientific-Research Institute (now a member of the Almaz-Antey corporation) began developing 50 years ago. All family members are based on a tracked chassis to provide anti-aircraft protection for advancing armor and mechanized infantry. The Viking represents an exportable variant of the Buk-M3 that completed fire trials in 2011 and entered service in 2016 with Russian air defense brigades. The M3 differs from its predecessors by using containerized 9M317M missiles instead of the rail-launched 9M38 for the M1 and 9M317 for the M1-2 and M2.
