| S-125 Neva/Pechora NATO reporting name: SA-3 Goa |
|
|---|---|
Peruvian Army S-125 |
|
| Type | Strategic SAM system |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1963[1]-present |
| Used by | See list of present and former operator |
| Wars | Yom Kippur War, Kosovo War, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War, Angolan Civil War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Almaz Central Design Bureau |
| Designed | 1960s |
| Manufacturer | JSC Defense Systems (Pechora-M) |
| Produced | 1963-present |
| Variants | Neva, Pechora, Volna, Neva-M, Neva-M1, Volna-M, Volna-N, Volna-P, Pechora 2, Pechora 2M, Newa SC, Pechora-M |
The Isayev S-125 Neva/Pechora (Russian: С-125 "Нева"/"Печора", NATO reporting name SA-3 Goa) Soviet surface-to-air missile system was designed to complement the S-25 and S-75. It has a shorter effective range and lower engagement altitude than either of its predecessors and also flies slower, but due to its two-stage design it is more effective against more maneuverable targets. It is also able to engage lower flying targets than the previous systems, and being more modern it is much more resistant to ECM than the S-75. The 5V24 (V-600) missiles reach around Mach 3 to 3.5 in flight, both stages powered by solid fuel rocket motors. The S-125, like the S-75, uses radio command guidance. The naval version of this system has the NATO reporting name SA-N-1 Goa and original designation M-1 Volna (Russian Волна – wave).
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The S-125 was first deployed between 1961 and 1964 around Moscow, augmenting the S-25 and S-75 sites already ringing the city, as well as in other parts of the USSR. In 1964, an upgraded version of the system, the S-125M "Neva-M" and later S-125M1 "Neva-M1" was developed. The original version was designated SA-3A by the US DoD and the new Neva-M named SA-3B and (naval) SA-N-1B. The Neva-M introduced a redesigned booster and an improved guidance system. The SA-3 was not used against U.S. forces in Vietnam, because the Soviets feared that China (after the souring of Sino-Soviet relations in 1960), through which most, if not all of the equipment meant for the NVA had to travel, would try to copy the missile.
The FAPA-DAA acquired a significant number of SA-3s, and these were encountered during the first strike flown by SAAF Mirage F.1s against targets in Angola ever - in June 1980. While two aircraft were damaged by SAMs during this action, the Angolans claimed to have shot down four.[2]
On 7 June 1980, while attacking SWAPO's Tobias Haneko Training Camp during Operation Sceptic (Smokeshell), SAAF Major Frans Pretorius and Captain IC du Plessis, both flying Mirage F.1s, were hit by SA-3s. Pretorius's aircraft was hit in a fuel line and he had to perform a deadstick landing at AFB Ondangwa. DU Plessis's aircraft sustained heavier damage and had to divert to Ruacana forward airstrip, were he landed with only the main undercarriage extended. Both aircraft were repaired and returned to service.[3]
The Soviets supplied several SA-3s to the Arab states in the late 1960s and 1970s, most notably Egypt and Syria. The SA-3 saw extensive action during the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War. During the latter, the SA-3, along with the SA-2 and SA-6, formed the backbone of the Egyptian air defence network.
Syria deployed it for the first time during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and also during the 1982 Lebanon war. In fighting over the Beqaa Valley, however, the IAF managed to neutralize the SAM threat by launching Operation Mole Cricket 19, in which several SA-3 batteries, along with SA-2s and SA-6s, were destroyed in a single day.
A USAF F-16 (serial 87-257) was shot down on January 19, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm. The aircraft was struck by an SA-3 just south of Baghdad. The pilot, Major Jeffrey Scott Tice, ejected safely but became a POW as the ejection took place over Iraq. It was the 8th combat loss and the first daylight raid over Baghdad.[4]
Two days before, a B-52G was damaged by a SAM which could have been an SA-3 or an SA-6.
A Yugoslav Army 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade 3rd battery equipped with S-125 system managed to shoot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber on March 27, 1999 during the Kosovo War (the only recorded downing of a stealth aircraft). The S-125 used had been modified by colonel Zoltán Dani in order to detect stealth aircraft.[5][6] It was also used to shoot down a NATO F-16 fighter on May 2 (its pilot; Lt. Col David Goldfein, the commander of 555th Fighter Squadron, managed to eject and was later rescued by a combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) mission.[7][8]
During the war, different Yugoslav SAM sites and possibly the SA-3 also shot down some NATO UAVs.
However, apart from the two isolated successes achieved on two USAF strike aircraft, the Kosovo war demonstrated the obsolescence of these fixed SAM sites and its unreliability as part of an integrated air defence system: dozens of missiles were fired with only two aircraft downed, Despite the fact that the air defense systems are relocated on the newly created firing positions by the Engineer Units, up to 80 percent of Yugoslav Fixed SA-3 sites were claimed destroyed during the war and NATO strikers demolished most of the strategic infrastructure in Yugoslavia with limited challenge.[9]
The S-125 is somewhat mobile, an improvement over the S-75 system. The missiles are typically deployed on fixed turrets containing two or four but can be carried ready-to-fire on ZIL trucks in pairs. Reloading the fixed launchers takes a few minutes.
| V-600 | |
|---|---|
V-600 missiles on the S-125 quadruple launcher. |
|
| Type | Surface-to-air missile |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Production history | |
| Variants | V-600, V-601 |
| Specifications (V-601[10]) | |
| Weight | 953 kg |
| Length | 6.09 m |
| Diameter | 375 mm |
|
|
|
| Warhead | Frag-HE |
| Warhead weight | 60 kg |
| Detonation mechanism |
Command |
|
|
|
| Wingspan | 2.2 m |
| Propellant | Solid propellant rocket motor |
| Operational range |
35 kilometres (22 mi) |
| Flight altitude | 18,000 metres (59,000 ft) |
| Guidance system |
RF CLOS |
The S-125 system uses 2 different missiles versions. The V-600 (or 5V24) had the smallest warhead with only 60 kg of High-Explosive. It had a range of about 15 km.
The later version is named V-601 (or 5V27). It has a length of 6.09 m, a wing span of 2.2 m and a body diameter of 0.375 m. This missile weighs 953 kg at launch, and has a 70 kg warhead containing 33 kg of HE and 4,500 fragments. The minimum range is 3.5 km, and the maximum is 35 km (with the Pechora 2A). The intercept altitudes are between 100 m and 18 km.[10]
The launchers are accompanied by a command building or truck and three primary radar systems:
"Flat Face"/"Squat Eye" is mounted on a van ("Squat Eye" on a taller mast for better performance against low-altitude targets also an IFF [Identifies Friend or Foe]), "Low Blow" on a trailer and "Side Net" on a box-bodied trailer.
Work on a naval version M-1 Volna (SA-N-1) started in 1956, along with work on a land version. It was first mounted on a rebuilt Kotlin class destroyer (Project 56K) Bravyi and tested in 1962. In the same year, the system was accepted. The basic missile was a V-600 (or 4K90) (range: from 4 to 15 km, altitude: from 0.1 to 10 km). Fire control and guidance is carried out by 4R90 Yatagan radar, with five parabolic antennas on a common head. Only one target can be engaged at a time (or two, for ships fitted with two Volna systems). In case of emergency, Volna could be also used against naval targets, due to short response time.
The first launcher type was the two-missile ZIF-101, with a magazine for 16 missiles. In 1963 an improved two-missile launcher, ZIF-102, with a magazine for 32 missiles, was introduced to new ship classes. In 1967 Volna systems were upgraded to Volna-M (SA-N-1B) with V-601 (4K91) missiles (range: 4–22 km, altitude: 0.1–14 km).
In 1974 - 1976 some systems were modernized to Volna-P standard, with an additional TV target tracking channel and better resistance to jamming. Later, improved V-601M missiles were introduced, with lower minimal attack altitude against aerial targets (system Volna-N).
Some Indian frigates also carry the M-1 Volna system.
Since Russia replaced most of its S-125 sites with SA-10 and SA-12 systems, they decided to upgrade the S-125 systems being removed from service to make them more attractive to export customers. Released in 2000, the Pechora-2 version features better range, multiple target engagement ability and a higher probability of kill (PK). The launcher is moved onto a truck allowing much shorter relocation times. It is also possible to fire the Pechora-2M system against cruise missiles.
In 1999, a Russian-Belarusian financial-industrial consortium called Oboronitelnye Sistemy (Defense Systems) was awarded a contract to overhaul Egypt's S-125 SAM system. These refurbished weapons have been reintroduced as the S-125 Pechora 2M.[1]
In 2001, Poland began offering an upgrade to the S-125 known as the Newa SC. This replaced many analogue components with digital ones for improved reliability and accuracy. This upgrade also involves mounting the missile launcher on a T-55 tank chassis (a TEL), greatly improving mobility and also adds IFF capability and data links. Radar is mounted on an 8-wheeled heavy truck chassis (formerly used for Scud launchers). Serbian modifications include terminal/camera homing from radar base.
Later the same year, the Russian version was upgraded again to the Pechora-M which upgraded almost all aspects of the system - the rocket motor, radar, guidance, warhead, fuse and electronics. There is an added laser/infra-red tracking device to allow launching of missiles without the use of the radar.
There is also a version of the S-125 available from Russia with the warhead replaced with telemetry instrumentation, for use as target drones.
In October, 2010, Ukrainian Aerotechnica announced a modernized version of S-125 named S-125-2D Pechora.[11]