This week, it became known that a certain number of short-range surface-to-air missile systems "Osa" from the air defense units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been upgraded to utilize air-to-air missiles of the R-73 type.
This project is quite pragmatic considering the overall ideology, aiming to address the shortage of surface-to-air missiles of the 9M33 type by upgrading to the more widely available R-73, which simultaneously enhances the combat effectiveness of the "Osa" system itself. Moreover, the declared cost of the project at 14 million hryvnias (even if this is the expense for only one SAM system) seems quite reasonable.
However, it appears that this modernization of the "Osa" SAM systems for the air defense units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not encompassed all existing systems of this type for various reasons. This, in turn, leaves room for further modernization of other available SAM systems of this type.
In this context, it is quite relevant to recall the option for upgrading the "Osa" systems to German IRIS-T missiles, which was presented by the Polish defense industry a few years before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine during one of the MSPO exhibitions.
In brief, the upgrade option for the "Osa" SAM system to IRIS-T involved the installation of launchers for six missiles of this type, which, when launched from such a system, would have an engagement range of about 10 kilometers and an altitude of up to 6-8 kilometers.
Furthermore, the integration of IRIS-T into the "Osa" system, according to the authors of this project, would also improve the combat effectiveness of this SAM system, especially regarding the speed of response to aerial threats.
The original Polish project for upgrading the "Osa" SAM system to IRIS-T only reached the stage of an exhibition mock-up and was not implemented in practice, meaning the idea of such modernization remained at a conceptual level.
However, in the current conditions of wartime Ukraine, such a project may prove to be quite relevant. Although, of course, its realization will largely depend on the capability of our Western partners to provide the necessary quantity of IRIS-T missiles.
Previously, Defense Express also reported that the predecessor of Gepard in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the "Tunguska" systems, which also shoot down "Shaheds", particularly discussing the nuances associated with the use of such Soviet systems in the defense of Ukraine's skies.