The Combat Operation of Modernized Buk FrankenSAM System Captured on Video for First Time

Official footage of the Air Force of Ukraine captured the combat operation of the Buk air defense system after its modernization under the FrankenSAM program. Previously, only photos of launchers with American AIM-7 missiles were publicly shown.

Today’s video shows the combat work of Ukrainian defenders to repel an attack on the night of December 22-23, 2025.

The first modernised systems delivered under the programme were reported in May 2024.

The video footage was the first to be posted on social media without any third-party “leaks” to record the use of the system during the repulsion of a massive combined Russian attack on the night of December 23:

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, since 18:00 on December 22, the enemy used 673 air attack means.

Radio engineering troops detected and tracked 38 missiles and 635 drones of various types.

The strike included Shahed and Gerbera drones, as well as X-47M2 Kinzhal aerial ballistic missiles and X-101 and Iskander-K cruise missiles. The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces have shot down or suppressed 621 air targets.

Details about the FrankenSAM program

Modernization under the FrankenSAM program involves a wide range of work on anti-aircraft missile systems. In the case of the Buk-M1, it involves the integration of AIM-7 missiles into the 9A310M1 self-propelled launchers and the 9A39 launcher, which allows the system to maintain combat capability in the event of a shortage of regular ammunition.

In November 2023, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, called the modernization project a kind of “hybrid between the Soviet and the American.”

The American RIM-7 missile is capable of hitting air targets at a distance of up to 20,000 meters and up to 15,000 meters in altitude.

Recently, Senior Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Strategic Issues Oleksandr Kamyshyn said that Ukraine is able to independently implement the FrankenSAM project.

Also, through the lens of Militarnyi’s article, we can analyze whether the modernized Buks will actually protect the Ukrainian front.