The S-75 Dvina was one of the high altitude air defence systems that Western aircraft
feared most during the First Cold War. The missile, its NATO reporting name is SA-2 Guideline,
proved itself especially over Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, and the Middle East. It had played
important roles in almost all the critical wars and crises until the 1990s. Now, we are
investigating the S-75, a legendary air defence missile system.
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As one of the most widely deployed air defence missile systems in history, the S-75 indeed
left its mark on the First Cold War. It was an indispensable element in the protection
of the Eastern Bloc's airspace against the Western air forces which had the better pilots
and aircraft. To better understand the S-75, it would be
helpful to look back at the early 1950s. In those years, the US Air Force had begun
to use the B-47 and B-52 high-altitude nuclear bombers.
The USSR did not have enough radars to control its vast territory. Also, the capabilities
of these radars used in those years were limited. The US bombers could attack many cities and
critical facilities of the USSR, using these radar gaps.
Besides, the USA could keep under observation its enemy continuously with its high-altitude
reconnaissance aircraft. After they had scrambled, the Soviet interceptors
of the time needed a long time to climb to the same altitude of US bombers and reconnaissance
aircraft. During this time, the US aircraft could leave
the area. The USSR had no other solution for high-altitude
air defence than the obsolete 130mm KS-30 and 100mm KS-19 anti-aircraft guns.
To solve this problem, the USSR developed the S-25 Berkut missile system first whose
NATO reporting name was the SA-1 Guild. This stationary system was being used only for
the protection of Moscow. Needing a more mobile air defence missile
system to be used in other regions, the USSR started the development of the S-75 to replace
the KS-30s and KS-19s in 1953. The mission of the new missile was to shoot
down the large and non-manoeuvrable aircraft flying at high altitude.
So, the manoeuvrability was not required, but the flying at high speed was essential.
It had to be resistant against the aircraft counter-measures.
The S-75 Dvina entered service in 1957. It was unveiled at that year's May Day parade
in Moscow. There are many models of the V-750 missile
used with the S-75 air defence system. The basic V-750 version is a two-stage missile.
It has a solid-fuel booster and a storable liquid-fuel upper stage rocket engine.
Four large, cropped-delta shaped wing fins of the booster have the small control surfaces
in their trailing edges which control roll. There are smaller, cropped-delta shaped wings
near the middle of the upper stage and the mini control surfaces at the far rear.
Most versions of the missile also have small fins on the nose.
The radio-guided missile receives the location and vector information of the target from
the guidance computers at the site via one of three radio channels. The early models
of the S-75 have two sets of four small antennas in front of the forward fins. The later versions
have four much larger strip antennas located between the forward and middle fins.
The missile with a proximity fuze has the 195-kilogram fragmentation warhead whose kill
radius is about 65 metres at lower altitudes. The kill radius increases to 250 metres at
higher altitudes. There is also a version with the nuclear warhead.
Because it has low accuracy, in general use, two missiles are fired against one target.
If the missile does not receive the guidance commands during the first 6 seconds of its
cruise, it begins to perform the ballistic flight. After 60 seconds, if it does not still
receive the guidance command, it destroys itself. The missile which receives the guidance
commands has to find its target in 115 seconds. After that, the automatic self-destruction
system activates. The V-750 missile fired from the S-75 Dvina
model has a length of 10.8 meters and a diameter of 650 millimetres. Its weight is about 2,390
kilograms. The effective range of the missile is 29 kilometres. Its effective altitude is
25,000 meters. The V-750 has a speed of Mach 3.5.
The S-75 Desna version fires V-750VK and V-750VN missiles which have the more powerful booster.
Their effective altitudes of these missiles are about 30,000 metres. They can reach a
range of up to 34 kilometres. The S-75M Volkhov model fires improved V-750M
missiles whose range is 43 kilometres. This missile has better low altitude capability
than its predecessors. There was a ship-based version of the missile
called S-75M-2 Volkhov-M. One of the Sverdlov-class cruisers of the Soviet Navy, Dzerzhinsky was
equipped with this model whose NATO reporting name is SA-N-2A. However, the missile was
found unsuccessful for naval use. It never applied on other Soviet surface combatants.
China produced the S-75 under license under the name of HQ-1, then developed advanced
models of the system called HQ-2 using reverse engineering method.
This country also produced the DF-7, a surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile model of the HQ-2s.
Similarly, the Houthis in Yemen developed the Qaher-1 which is a surface-to-surface
model of their S-75s. The Iranian Sayyad-1 missile is a upgraded
version of the HQ-2. This model has a different guidance system.
The Egyptian reverse-engineered version of the S-75 is called Tayir as Sabah.
Some countries such as China, Cuba, Ethiopia, and North Korea have developed self-propelled
models of the S-75 locally. The number of countries that rely on the S-75
in protecting their airspace has exceeded 40 over time.
However, the missile is today only in the inventory of Angola, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Romania, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Vietnam, and Yemen. A typical S-75 regiment consists of a regimental
headquarters and three missile battalions with six launchers each.
The headquarters has the P-12 Yenisei early warning radar whose NATO reporting name is
Spoon Rest. It is effective in a 200-kilometre range and an altitude of 25,000 meters.
The battalion's missile launchers are positioned to form a hexagon, approximately 60 to 100
meters apart from each other. The SNR-75 targeting radar is in the centre
of the flower-like hexagon. The original model of this radar with NATO
reporting name Fan Song, operates in the G-band and can be engaged to an air target from a
range of 120 kilometres. Due to Israel's capture of an S-75 system
during the 1967 Six-Day War, the USSR developed the RSNA-75M model of the radar operating
in E-band. This version with NATO reporting name Fan Song-F, has a tracking range of 145
kilometres. The guidance system of an S-75 battalion allows
engaging only one target at a time. Yet, three missiles can be fired against a single target
simultaneously. The S-75 gained its first combat success by
shooting down a Taiwanese RB-57D Canberra over China in 1959.
However, Beijing reported that the Chinese fighters shot down this aircraft.
At that time, Moscow wanted to keep the capabilities of the system secret.
The Russian and Chinese sources claim that the S-75s also shot down some other Taiwanese
RB-57s and drones over China. The S-75 gained international fame when it
shot down a U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers on May 1, 1960, over the USSR.
Two years later, during the Cuban Crisis, another U-2 piloted by Rudolf Anderson also
fell victim to this missile. With the Vietnam War, the US pilots once again
faced the deadly S-75. On July 24, 1965, the system managed to shoot
down an F-4C of the US Air Force first time and damaged three others.
In the same year, the US Navy aircraft began to carry the AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missiles
against the S-75s. The US Air Force fitted its aircraft with
powerful jammers. Later, the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences
doctrine, which brought these two solutions together, emerged. The modified aircraft,
identified as the Wild Weasel, were tasked with hunting the S-75 batteries down.
The S-75 did not have a high kill rate. During the 1972 Linebacker II campaign, the 266 V-750
missiles fired by the Vietnamese shot down 15 B-52s and damaged other five. Perhaps this
success rate was low but it still caused an important demoralization in the USA, which
is sensitive to human and material loss. Although the US sources provide different
data, the Vietnamese sources claim that the S-75s managed to shoot down 1,046 US aircraft
during the war. This air defence system was also used extensively
in wars in the Middle East. The S-75s' first combat experience in this
region was not satisfactory. In the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israeli combat
aircraft flying at low altitude easily dealt with them.
Israel even captured some Egyptian S-75 batteries intact in the Sinai Peninsula.
Yet, the Egyptian sources claim that the S-75s along with the S-125s, managed to shoot down
at least three Israeli F-4s, a Magister, an A-4, and a C-97, during the War of Attrition.
However, the S-75 had its real impact in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The Israeli Air Force had been ineffective on the Sinai Front until General Ariel Sharon
crossed the Suez Canal and destroyed the Egyptian air defence batteries.
In the 1982 Lebanon War, Israel successfully destroyed the Syrian air defence systems with
an innovative approach. Still, an Israeli A-4 was shot down by the
surface to air missile. This success probably belonged to the S-75.
During the Iran Iraq War, the Iraqi S-75s shot down at least four F-4s and an F-5E of
the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. This air defence system proved itself as a
deadly threat even in the 1991 Gulf War. During the war, the Iraqi S-75s managed to
shoot down an F-14, an F-15E, and a Tornado. If we take a look at the later combat achievements
of the missile, we have to mention that a Georgian S-75 battery shot down a Russian
Su-27, in 1993. Many sources refer to this as the S-75's final
combat success. However, this information is controversial.
On February 14, 2020, a Tornado of the Royal Saudi Air Force was shot down by a two-stage
surface to air missile, probably a V-750. We have to add that in the 1992-1995 Bosnian
War, the Serb forces fired at least three S-75 in the ground-to-ground mode.
In the recent Yemeni Civil War, the Houthis are also using the modified version of this
air defence system, the Qaher-1 as the ballistic missile.
Since the late 1950s, the S-75 has made a name for itself in many wars and crises. This
system, which is over 60 years old, naturally lost its effectiveness over the years. But
it is unwise to underrate it, as we saw in Yemen. Although it has become obsolete, the
saga of the legendary S-75 has not yet ended. Thanks for watching our video. And please
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