Polish Grom MANPADS appear in east Ukraine conflict

A close-up of the missile tube displayed by the Ukraine MoD on 18 May showing the name of the system and batch number of the missile tube in question. Source: Ukrainian MoD

The Ukraine Ministry of Defence (MoD) published pictures on 18 May 2014 of a Polish-made Grom-2 man portable air defence system (MANPADS) it claimed to have captured from separatists operating in east Ukraine. (Ukrainian MoD)

Polish-made PZR Grom man portable air defence systems (MANPADS) are appearing in separatist hands in east Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on 18 May.The MoD published pictures on 18 May of a MANPAD it claimed to have seized from "terrorists" attempting to attack aircraft operating out of the military airfield at Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of east Ukraine.A close-up of the MANPAD's missile tube shows the letters 'ROM E2', which are likely to form part of 'GROM E2', the name of the latest version of the Grom: the Grom-2.

In addition to its use in the Polish Armed Forces, the Grom system is known to have been exported to Georgia, Indonesia, and Peru, while Lithuania ordered the missiles in 2014.Poland is highly unlikely to have supplied any arms to pro-Russian separatists. The missile displayed by the Ukrainian MoD on 18 May is likely to have come from the batches it shipped to Georgia. Disclosures to the UN Register of Conventional Arms in July 2008 indicated that Poland shipped a total of 30 launchers and 100 missiles to Georgia.

During the war in South Ossetia in August 2008 Russian forces are understood to have captured a number of the containers in which the Grom rounds were shipped to Georgia. It is unclear, however, whether these containers still contained missile tubes and, if so, how many actual missile tubes were seized, or if any launchers (ie: the grip-stock/battery unit) were also seized.Russian forces operating in Chechnya later in 2008 also claimed to have come across Grom missiles in the hands of Chechnyan separatists, likely also from former Georgian stocks, although this is unconfirmed.Intriguingly, the MANPAD displayed by Ukraine on 18 May appears to be a composite of a Grom 2 launch tube and a 9P516 grip-stock from the Russian 9K38 Igla (SA-18 'Grouse'). This could support the assertion that the missile in questions was seized by the Russians from Georgia in 2008, given that there is only evidence for the seizure of Georgian missile tubes, and not any grip-stocks.

IHS Jane's contacted Zaklady Metalowe MESKO, the manufacturer of the Grom, for comment but had yet to receive a response at the time of writing.The Ukrainian Army Aviation has suffered losses as a result of MANPADS proliferation in east Ukraine. On 2 May two Mil Mi-24 'Hind' combat helicopters were shot down by MANPADS near Slavyansk, less than 20 km north of Kramatorsk, where the Grom-2 was seized.


http://www.janes.com/article/38053/polish-grom-manpads-appear-in-east-ukraine-conflict