The 9K33 Osa (Russian: 9К33 «Оса»; English: "wasp"; NATO reporting name SA-8 Gecko) is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and fielded in 1972.

It consists of an elliptical rotating surveillance antenna mounted on top of the array, operates in H band (6 to 8 GHz) and has a 30 km acquisition range against most targets.

The large pulsed J band (14.5 GHz) engagement antenna is mounted below it in the centre of the array and has a maximum tracking range of about 20 km.

Below it is a small circular antenna which emits an I band uplink capture beam to gather the missile shortly after launch.

However, the system is unable to engage targets at longer ranges, due to other factors such as the limitations of the radar tracking of the missiles.

The latest 9M33M3 missiles have an increased total weight of 170 kg (375 lb) in order to provide extended range coverage and larger warhead.

Kill probability is quoted as 0.35–0.85 for the Osa and 0.55–0.85 for the Osa-AK and Osa-AKM (presumably depending upon target aspect, speed, maneuverability and radar cross section).

When launched, the booster motor burns for two seconds, permitting the radar to gather and control it at very short ranges (about 1.6 km).

[citation needed] Produced by the Soviet Union/Russia, the system was exported to many countries, including Cuba, Greece (from the former East Germany), Poland, Syria, Ecuador and Iraq.

The WSO (back seater), Aharon Katz was killed, while the pilot, Gil Fogel, survived and was held captive by the Syrians for two years.

[9] In the late 1980s, Cuba deployed several 9K33 Osa units in southern Angola, which posed a significant threat to South African air superiority at shorter ranges.

[10] The South African 61 Mechanised Battalion Group captured an intact 9K33 Osa anti-aircraft missile system on 3 October 1987 during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

[13] On 29 November 2019, Russian sources speculated a Soviet-made 9K33 Osa fired by Houthi forces shot down a Saudi Arabian Army Aviation AH-64 Apache in Yemen.

[24] Senior sources of the Ukrainian Air Force stated that some Osa and Buk systems were destroyed by Kh-31P and Kh-58 anti-radiation missiles during the early stages of the Russian invasion in the spring of 2022.

[28] PPRU-M1 (PPRU-M1-2) is a mobile command center for a mixed grouping of air defense forces, including 9K33 Osa, and Tor missile system, 2K22 Tunguska, 9K35 Strela-10 and 9K38 Igla.