The 9S36M is a Russian tracked radar vehicle in the 9K317M Buk-M3 family, combining target illumination, missile guidance, and target-designation functions for Buk-M3 batteries that can use 9A316M launch vehicles. Official Viking export material describes the related 9S36ME radar as handling low-flying targets and transmitting commands to multiple missiles, while Ukraine-war visual evidence has documented Russian 9S36M losses as part of Buk-M3 combat deployments.
Russian 9S36M fire-control radars for the 9K317M Buk-M3 system are documented in Ukraine-war loss and strike reporting, including Oryx counts of Russian 9S36M losses, a WarSpotting entry for a destroyed 9S36M in Kakhovka raion on August 29, 2023, and Ukrainian reporting of later strikes on RPN 9S36M radar vehicles.
Role detailsOpen sources separate the Buk-M2 9S36 radar from the Buk-M3 9S36M station and the 9S36ME export Viking designation. Both generations use an elevating radar concept, but this entry is centered on the 9S36M designation tied to 9K317M Buk-M3 and Viking-family reporting.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| 9S36 | Buk-M2 / Buk-M2E low-altitude acquisition and engagement radar | Air Power Australia describes the 9S36 as a mast-mounted low-altitude acquisition and engagement radar for Buk-M2E, using a 21-meter telescoping mast and controlling paired 9A316 transloader-launchers. |
| 9S36M | Buk-M3 illumination and guidance radar | Missilery.info lists 9S36M illumination and guidance radars among 9K317M Buk-M3 combat elements and says a 9S36M can be paired with two 9A316M launchers. Sources: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info |
| 9S36ME | Export Viking target illumination and guidance radar | Rosoboronexport's Viking page identifies the 9S36ME target illumination and guidance radar as the export-system radar used to detect, lock on, track, identify, illuminate targets, and transmit commands to missiles. Sources: Viking - Rosoboronexport |
The 9S36M is a battery radar component rather than a missile launcher; its value comes from linking Buk launch vehicles and missiles into the Buk-M3 fire-control chain.
| Compatible item | Item type | Compatibility evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Buk-family medium-range surface-to-air missile system | The 9S36M belongs to the later Buk-M3 branch, while Buk-M2 sources document the predecessor 9S36 mast-radar concept and the broader Buk architecture that the catalog's Buk-M2 page covers. Sources: Air Power Australia Buk M1/M2 Technical Report, 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info |
 | Buk-M3 self-propelled firing vehicle | Missilery.info says the 9A317M firing vehicle's illumination and guidance station is analogous in construction to the 9S36M radar, and Rosoboronexport describes the export 9S36ME as operating in the same Viking fire-control architecture. Sources: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info, Viking - Rosoboronexport |
Buk-M3 fire-control reporting links the 9S36M radar to missile guidance for 9M317M-family launches.
| Compatible item | Item type | Compatibility evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Buk-family surface-to-air missile | Missilery.info says semi-active 9M317M guidance requires illumination from either a 9S36M radar or a 9A317M self-propelled firing vehicle, connecting the radar to the Buk missile family represented by the catalog's 9M317 page. Sources: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info |
The 9S36M is the Buk-M3 radar vehicle used when launchers need an external illumination and guidance source. Missilery.info describes Buk-M3 batteries that can combine 9A317M self-propelled firing vehicles, 9S36M illumination and guidance radars, and 9A316M launch vehicles; in that structure, a 9S36M can support two 9A316M launchers.
The elevating antenna post is described as raising to about 22 m, extending the radar horizon for very-low-altitude targets in wooded or broken terrain.
Source: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info.
Rosoboronexport says the related 9S36ME target illumination and guidance radar detects, locks on, tracks, identifies, illuminates, and transmits commands to up to 12 missiles simultaneously.
Source: Viking - Rosoboronexport.
The earlier 9S36 for Buk-M2E used a mast-mounted phased-array radar to add low-altitude acquisition and engagement coverage beyond the launcher-mounted radar line of sight.
Source: Air Power Australia Buk M1/M2 Technical Report.
Missilery.info describes Buk-M3 development by Tikhomirov NIIP under Almaz-Antey beginning in 2007.
Sources: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info
Missilery.info says the 9K317M Buk-M3 system was accepted into service in 2016 and that the first Buk-M3 battalion set was delivered to Russian forces in October 2016.
Sources: 9K317M Buk-M3 - Missilery.info
Wikimedia Commons records show the 9S36M radar and its radar gondola photographed at the Army-2018 exhibition at Park Patriot near Moscow.
Sources: File:9S36M Armia-2018.jpg, File:9S36M radar gondola.jpg
WarSpotting lists a Russian 9S36M fire-control radar for a 9K317M Buk-M3 as destroyed in Kakhovka raion during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Sources: WarSpotting 9S36M Loss Entry
Ukrainska Pravda and Defense Express reported Ukrainian intelligence claims of a strike on an RPN 9S36M radar from a Russian Buk-M3 system in occupied Crimea.
Sources: Ukraine Destroys Russian Air Defence Assets in Crimea, Russian S-300V and Buk-M3 Air Defense Components Hit in Crimea
