Service and combat use of later modifications of the S-75 air defense system delivered to other countries and their foreign clones
After the troops in the second half of the 1960s Defense The USSR was sufficiently saturated with anti-aircraft facilities missile With the S-75 Desna and S-75M Volkhov complexes with 6-cm range guidance stations, foreign customers began to be offered the export modification S-75M Volga instead of the outdated SA-75M/MK air defense systems.
6-cm range S-75M and improved S-75M3 complexes were delivered to Angola (7 units), Bulgaria (10 units), Hungary (13 units), Vietnam (36 units), East Germany (29 units), Egypt (40 units) , Iraq (35 units), Northern Yemen (15 units), Southern Yemen (3 units), to Cuba (18 units), to the DPRK (3 units), Libya (39 units), Mozambique (3 units), Mongolia (2 units), Poland (26 units), Romania (31 units), Syria (52 units), Czechoslovakia (18 units), Ethiopia (4 units), Yugoslavia (4 units). The last deliveries of the S-75M3 in 1987 were to Angola, Vietnam, South Yemen, North Korea, Cuba and Syria. In 1988, one S-75M3 complex was transferred to Romania.
Operation of the S-75M/M3 air defense system in countries that were members of the Warsaw Pact
In the states that were members of the Warsaw Pact, these air defense systems, since the early 1970s, served to protect important administrative and industrial centers and were used to destroy reconnaissance balloons, and also served as a scarecrow, preventing NATO aircraft from invading their airspace.
Yes, West German aviation often violated Poland's air borders from the Baltic Sea. The most active ones were the Breguet Br base patrol aircraft. 1150 Atlantic, crossing the border near Wolin Island.
Airplane Breguet Br. 1150 Atlantic
To suppress reconnaissance flights in December 1968, one S-75M air defense missile system was secretly relocated to Wolin Island. At the same time, the division commander received an order, if necessary, to open fire to kill without a preliminary report to higher authorities.
However, it did not come to live firing. NATO radio reconnaissance equipment detected the guidance station's radiation, and air border violations in the area stopped.
The bulk of the S-75M/M3 air defense systems available in countries that were part of the Eastern Bloc were decommissioned in the late 1990s - early 2000s. The Volga anti-aircraft systems served the longest in Bulgaria and Romania.
The position of the last Bulgarian complex on the eastern outskirts of Sofia remained until 2011. After which, the only anti-aircraft missile system protecting the capital of Bulgaria remained the S-300PMU, deployed in 1990. In 2011, the S-75M3 complex, which covered Varna, was also removed from duty.
Due to the personal ambitions of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and the contradictions they caused with the Soviet leadership, the Romanian air defense, unlike other countries of the Eastern bloc, never received the S-200VE long-range air defense systems and the S-300PMU medium-range mobile multi-channel systems.
Romania, along with Albania (which operated the Chinese HQ-2 air defense systems), was a country where, until recently, medium-range air defense systems with missiles fueled with liquid fuel and oxidizer remained in service.
Google Earth satellite image: position of the S-75M3 air defense system south of Bucharest, image taken in April 2017
The last time training firing of Romanian “seventy-five” took place in 2016 at the Capu Midia training ground, located on the Black Sea coast, 20 km north of the city of Constanta.
Launch of the B-759 anti-aircraft missile of the Romanian S-75M3 air defense system
In Romania in 2022, the 1st anti-aircraft missile brigade “General Nicolae Dascalescu” included six S-75M3 air defense systems.
However, judging by satellite images that are freely available, these complexes are not currently on combat duty. Currently, guidance stations and launchers have been preserved at two positions near Bucharest, but there are no longer any missiles on them. According to Romanian officials, the Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile systems will be permanently retired once replacements arrive in the form of the American Patriot PAC-3+ anti-aircraft systems.
Service and combat use of S-75M/M3 air defense systems and their foreign clones outside the Eastern Bloc
Iraq in the 1970s and 1980s was one of the largest recipients of Soviet air defense systems in the Middle East. From 1974 to 1981, 25 S-75M Volga air defense systems and 1 B-336 missiles were delivered to this country. From 755 to 1984, 1986 S-10M75 Volkhov air defense systems and 3 B-680 missiles were transferred.
Operators of Iraqi "seventy-fives" in the 1980s claimed to destroy four Iranian F-4s and one F-5. During Operation Desert Storm (January-February 1991), according to unconfirmed reports, they were able to hit two American fighters: F-15 and F-14, as well as one British Tornado fighter-bomber. As a result of air raids and missile attacks, Iraq lost about a third of its air defense systems.
At the end of 1998, the S-75M/M3, along with other Iraqi air defense systems, unsuccessfully tried to counteract the attacks of American and British aircraft. At the same time, several complexes were disabled.
In 2003, by the time Operation Iraqi Freedom began, Iraq's air defense system had largely lost its combat potential. Due to the poor technical condition of the main part of the Iraqi air defense systems, the destruction of surveillance radars and the destruction of the command and control system, the S-75M/M3 anti-aircraft systems at the disposal of Saddam Hussein’s army were not launched against coalition aircraft. Most of Iraq's air defense systems were suppressed or destroyed in the first days after the start of hostilities during preemptive missile and bomb strikes by American and British aircraft.
It was noted that several unguided missiles were launched towards the advancing American troops.
According to information published in open sources, 1973 S-1982M Volga complexes were delivered to the Syrian Arab Republic from 41 to 75.
In 1982, Syria, along with other air defense systems, used the S-75M air defense system to cover a military group in Lebanon. In a battle formation extending 30 km along the front and 28 km in depth (five anti-aircraft missile brigades), 24 Syrian anti-aircraft missile divisions S-75M, S-125 and “Kvadrat” were deployed.
During the Israeli operation Mole Cricket 19, which lasted from June 9 to June 11, 1982, the Syrian air defense group was unable to effectively counter the actions of enemy aircraft and was defeated. Within the first two hours, the Israelis were able to destroy 15 Syrian air defense systems, which predetermined the further course of hostilities.
In many ways, this was a failure of the Soviet concept of building a comprehensive air defense system, in the organization and management of which numerous Russian advisers took part. The main military adviser to the Syrian Minister of Defense was Colonel General G. P. Yashkin, who had under his command a deputy for the Air Force, Lieutenant General V. Sokolov, for air defense, Lieutenant General K. Babenko, for EW - Major General Yu. Ulchenko. Soviet officers were present at all levels of control of the Syrian air defense systems.
After the defeat that occurred in June 1982, the Syrian air defense system was strengthened, including improved S-75M3 Volga air defense systems. From 1983 to 1986, 11 such complexes were delivered.
Although by the beginning of the civil war in the SAR the age of the newest “seventy-fives” had exceeded 25 years, thanks to good care, timely maintenance and repairs, they were in working condition, which was greatly facilitated by the dry climate. As of 2011, approximately three dozen S-75M/S-75M3 were on combat duty.
The civil war that began in 2011 had disastrous consequences for the Syrian air defense system. By the summer of 2015, no more than 30% of the air defense systems deployed at stationary positions remained.
Anti-aircraft missile destroyed at an SM-90 launcher in the vicinity of Aleppo
The main reason for the losses was the fighting that took place between the armed opposition and government forces. Several air defense systems and radar stations that found themselves in the midst of ground battles were destroyed as a result of artillery and mortar attacks. Some of the equipment and weapons of the SAR air defense troops ended up in the hands of militants. Fortunately, among the bearded Islamists there were no specialists capable of operating complexes that were quite difficult to maintain.
Due to the exhaustion of their operational life and the impossibility of maintaining them in operational condition, in 2015 the surviving S-75M medium-range air defense systems with the B-755 missile defense system were decommissioned. Since it turned out to be difficult to evacuate obsolete equipment and old anti-aircraft missiles that found themselves in a combat zone, they were often disposed of by detonating them directly at the firing position, which made it possible to avoid falling into the hands of militants.
As for the complexes suitable for further operation, they were transported to storage bases and airfields under the control of government forces.
Anti-aircraft missile B-759 Syrian complex C-75М3 on the CM-90 launcher
Two S-75M3 complexes were deployed southwest of Damascus at the beginning of 2017.
In 2018, eight S-75M3 air defense systems were on combat duty in the western part of the country and in the vicinity of the ports of Laktakia, Tartus and near Homs.
Google Earth satellite image: position of the S-75M3 air defense system in the vicinity of the port of Tartus, the image was taken in April 2022
Satellite images taken in the first half of 2022 show that these complexes were in position, but whether they are operational now is unknown.
Libya, in addition to other air defense systems, acquired 32 S-75M air defense systems (1975–1982) and 7 S-75M3 air defense systems (1984–1985) from the USSR. By the mid-1980s, a formally quite powerful group of air defense forces had been created in this country, and the Libyan “seventy-fives” took part in repelling a raid by American military aircraft on the night of April 14-15, 1986. The reason for the airstrike on Libya, carried out as part of Operation El Dorado Canyon, was accusations of supporting international terrorism.
The main blow was delivered by F-111 bombers and carrier-based A-6s. A-7 attack aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS America (CV-66) attacked Libyan surveillance radars and missile defense guidance stations with anti-radar missiles (48 missile launchers were launched). In total, more than 100 aircraft were involved, of which 27 carried out the main task of bombing the intended targets.
Although relations between Tripoli and Washington had become extremely strained, and before that, Libyan combat aircraft had been shot down near the coast, and the world media were actively discussing the possibility of an American air operation against Libya, the Libyan air defense system was not ready to repel the strike, and the aggressor’s aircraft suffered minimal losses. According to American data, one F-111 was lost during the raid (the crew of two died) and one bomber was damaged, but was able to return. Libya claimed three enemy aircraft were shot down, but no evidence was provided.
Soviet military advisers who served in Tripoli in 1986 recalled that the Libyans slept through the air raid, a significant part of the missiles were launched when American aircraft had already left the affected area, and about a third of the S-75M/M3 air defense systems were not combat ready.
Since the second half of the 1990s, the Libyan leadership did not pay enough attention to the state of its own armed forces, and the entire air defense system, built according to Soviet patterns, began to decline. In 2010, due to poor technical condition, no more than 10 facility complexes were on combat duty. After the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 and the subsequent intervention of Western countries in it, the entire air defense system of Libya was first disorganized and then completely destroyed, failing to provide any noticeable resistance to the air attack of NATO countries.
The Soviet Union supplied weapon to North and South Yemen. From 1980 to 1983, the air defense forces of North Yemen received 15 S-75M3 air defense systems and 552 B-755/B-759 missiles. In 1987, South Yemen acquired 3 S-75M3 air defense systems and 72 B-759 missiles.
History The combat use of the Yemeni Volga complexes was bright, but not long-lasting. As of 2014, 16 S-75M3 air defense systems were deployed in positions in united Yemen. Several more complexes of this type were in storage.
After the Ansar Allah movement established control over a significant part of the country, the Houthis had seven anti-aircraft missile divisions at their disposal, the material of which was not in very good technical condition.
Soon after the Arab Coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, began carrying out air strikes, all S-75M3 air defense systems were destroyed or disabled. In turn, when repelling air raids by air attack in 2015, approximately 40 anti-aircraft missiles were fired.
Yemeni air defense crews stated that missile launches shot down two Saudi F-15SA fighters, two Emirati F-16Es and one Sudanese Su-24M front-line bomber. In fact, the Houthis’ successes were much more modest; they managed to hit several reconnaissance and attack aircraft drones middle class.
After the highly visible S-75M3 positions from the air were subjected to a thorough attack with cluster bombs and anti-radar missiles, the Houthis converted at least 60 missiles into operational-tactical missiles that were launched at targets in Saudi Arabia.
In January 2017, the Yemeni military, who sided with Ansar Allah, announced that they had managed to return one S-75M3 anti-aircraft missile system to service.
But soon, after the anti-aircraft missile guidance station began to shine, the positions of the air defense missile system were discovered by electronic reconnaissance equipment and destroyed as a result of a missile and bomb strike.
After the end of hostilities in Southeast Asia, the outdated Vietnamese SA-75M air defense systems were replaced by the modernized S-75M/M3. Fourteen S-75M systems and 526 B-755 missiles were delivered in 1979–1982. Improved S-75M3 in the amount of 22 air defense systems and 886 B-759 missiles were transferred in 1985–1987.
The S-75M/M3 air defense systems served in Vietnam for a long time. In 2017, there were five complexes of this type in position. In 2024, only two of them were on combat duty with missiles on guns - one in the vicinity of Hanoi, the other on the coast 50 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
Google Earth satellite image: position of the S-75M3 air defense system on the coast 50 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City
Taking into account the fact that Vietnam is investing significant financial resources in modernizing its own air defense system, it should be expected that the S-75M3 air defense systems will soon be completely retired.
Antenna post of the S-75M3 air defense missile guidance station at the museum exhibition in Hanoi
There is a possibility that several operational S-75M3 systems remain in North Korea. B-759 missiles on Soviet transport-loading vehicles are regularly demonstrated during military parades.
In the 1980s, China transferred 12 HQ-2 air defense systems (a Chinese copy of the S-75). On satellite images of the territory of North Korea, one and a half dozen missile positions can be seen, but it is not possible to determine for sure whether it is a S-75M3 or HQ-2, since the positions of these complexes are not distinguishable.
In 1982, Cuba received three S-75M air defense systems. Between 1983 and 1987, the air defense system of Liberty Island was strengthened by another 15 S-75M3 air defense systems. These complexes had 258 B-755 missiles and 382 B-759 missiles.
After the island state was left without Soviet military and economic assistance, serious problems arose with maintaining combat-ready air defense systems. However, with very limited resources, Cuban specialists in repair shops built by the USSR in the 1970s were able to carry out major repairs and minor modernization of several air defense systems.
Simultaneously with the repair of the S-75M3 and S-125M1 air defense systems, launchers and antenna posts of guidance stations were installed on the chassis of medium tanks T-55, which was supposed to increase the mobility of anti-aircraft missile divisions.
For the first time, such self-propelled guns were demonstrated during a large-scale military parade in Havana in 2006.
Elements of the Cuban S-75M3 and S-125M1 air defense systems installed on the chassis of T-55 tanks
However, the placement of the S-75M3 air defense system on a tracked chassis raises a number of questions. If we can agree with the transfer of the S-125M1 launcher with solid-fuel V-601PD missiles to the T-55 chassis, then a lot of problems arise with the B-759 liquid-propellant missiles of the S-75M3 complex.
Those who have had the opportunity to operate air defense systems of the S-75 family know how troublesome the procedures are for refueling, delivering and installing missiles on guns. A rocket filled with liquid fuel and a caustic oxidizer is a very delicate product that requires very careful handling. When transporting missiles on a transport-loading vehicle, serious restrictions are imposed on the speed of movement and shock loads.
There is no doubt that when driving over rough terrain on a tank chassis with a loaded missile installed on it, due to high vibration, it will not be possible to meet these restrictions, which will certainly negatively affect the reliability of the missile defense system and poses a great danger to the crew in the event of a leak. fuel and oxidizer. Taking into account the fact that the elemental base of the guidance station is largely built on fragile electro-vacuum devices, and the center of gravity of the SNR-75 in this case is located very high, one can only guess at what speed this homemade product can move without loss of performance.
In addition to the 10-cm SA-75MK Dvina complexes, 1970-cm S-6 Desna and S-75M Volga air defense systems were supplied to Egypt in the early 75s. After the termination of military-technical cooperation with the USSR in 1973, great difficulties arose with the maintenance and modernization of existing anti-aircraft systems.
A conglomerate of Soviet, Chinese and Western technologies is the Egyptian Tayir as Sabah (“Morning Bird”) air defense system. In terms of basic characteristics, this complex roughly corresponds to the S-75M3, but does not have a television-optical sight.
These Egyptian air defense systems are based on well-prepared and fortified stationary positions. Their control cabins, diesel generators, transport-loading vehicles with spare missiles and auxiliary equipment are hidden under a thick layer of concrete and sand. Only the bunded launchers and the antenna post of the guidance station remained on the surface.
Antennas of the guidance station of the Egyptian air defense system Tayir as Sabah
China helped establish the production of anti-aircraft missiles in Egypt, and Western companies took part in the modernization of guidance stations. In this case, Soviet-made launchers and transport-loading vehicles were used.
Judging by satellite images, at the beginning of this year at least 16 Tayir as Sabah air defense systems were deployed in positions, but how many of them are actually capable of carrying out a combat mission is unknown.
American specialists gained access to the Egyptian S-75M air defense systems in the early 1980s, and at least one complex was exported to the United States. Also, the equipment of the SNR-75 and the B-755 missile defense system was studied in detail in China, which made it possible to improve the HQ-2 air defense system.
In the early 1990s, the Americans managed to familiarize themselves in detail with the later versions of the S-75M3, and several P-18 radars and SNR-75 stations were delivered to aviation training grounds from Eastern European countries.
At the first stage, American pilots trained on real radars and guidance stations for Soviet-made anti-aircraft systems. However, specialists servicing the SNR-75 soon encountered difficulties in maintaining the equipment built in the USSR in working condition. Readers who served in the air defense forces probably remember how labor-intensive routine maintenance was for first-generation anti-aircraft missile systems, radars and radio altimeters.
As you know, equipment made with extensive use of electrovacuum elements requires constant attention: fine tuning, adjustment and warming up. Radars, guidance and target illumination stations were equipped with spare parts and an impressive supply of vacuum tubes, since they quickly lose their characteristics during operation and are actually consumables.
In addition to purchasing spare parts, the Americans needed to translate mountains of technical literature or attract foreign specialists who had previously worked on Soviet technology, which was undesirable, as it could lead to leakage of confidential information.
In this regard, at the first stage, it was decided to partially transfer the existing Soviet-made anti-aircraft missile guidance stations to a new solid-state element base, while maintaining operating frequencies and combat modes. The task was made easier by the fact that the available radio equipment was not intended for actual launches of anti-aircraft missiles, but had to be used in the process of combat training of American pilots.
Modified antenna post SNR-75
AHNTECH specialists, under a contract with the Pentagon, based on the SNR-75 missile guidance station, created an installation that, in addition to the combat modes of the S-75 air defense system, was capable of reproducing other threats.
Due to changes made to the location of the antennas, the appearance of the antenna post has changed. Thanks to the use of modern element base, operating costs for maintaining electronic equipment have decreased significantly, and the modified station has also received new capabilities in terms of simulating other Soviet air defense systems.
In China, for a long period of time, their own versions of the “seventy-five” were produced, the latest of which are HQ-2B and HQ-2J. Approximately three dozen HQ-2 air defense systems were exported to Albania, North Korea, Pakistan and Iran.
In the first decade of the 2st century, some of the newest HQ-XNUMXJ air defense systems underwent a major modernization aimed at increasing noise immunity and increasing the number of simultaneously fired targets.
For this purpose, the HQ-2J included a multifunctional radar with AFAR N-200, developed for the HQ-12 anti-aircraft missile system. In parallel with the modernization of fresh modifications of the HQ-2, complexes that were more than 15–20 years old were withdrawn from service en masse.
However, as the air defense forces became saturated with modern multi-channel anti-aircraft missile systems with solid propellant missiles, the modernized, but operationally problematic HQ-2J complexes with liquid-propellant missiles also began to be written off.
In 2018, notes were published in the official publications of the PLA, which spoke about the decommissioning of obsolete air defense systems. At the same time, photographs are presented in which Chinese military personnel are preparing anti-aircraft missiles and a guidance station for removal from the position. According to available information, this process was completed in 2020.
Iran was a major operator of the HQ-2 air defense system outside China. In the 1980s, 14 battalions of HQ-2A/B medium-range air defense systems were delivered to this country. According to Iranian data, crews from Chinese-made systems managed to shoot down several Iraqi MiG-23B and Su-22. A couple of times, fire was unsuccessfully opened on Iraqi supersonic reconnaissance bombers MiG-25RB, which were also involved in bombing oil fields.
After the end of the Iran-Iraq War, military-technical cooperation between Iran and China in the field of air defense continued. In the second half of the 1990s, Iran began its own production of Sayyad-1 anti-aircraft missiles, intended for use as part of the Chinese HQ-2 air defense systems.
Google Earth satellite image: HQ-2 air defense system position northwest of the city of Kashan in Isfahan province
As of 2020, six HQ-2 complexes were deployed in Iran. In 2024, there were two complexes in position: one near Tehran, the second in the vicinity of the city of Kashan in the province of Isfahan. It is expected that in the next few years all Iranian HQ-2 air defense systems will be decommissioned.
Thus, it can be stated that the operational history of the S-75 air defense system and its foreign clones is nearing completion, and in the very near future we will be able to see elements of these complexes only in museum exhibitions.
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