During the Cold War, the Soviet Union invested heavily in its air defense systems. As a result, Russia now possesses some of the most advanced air and missile defense systems in the world, and many countries around the globe use them.
Some countries, such as China, have developed variants and begun indigenous production of these weapons systems. The Russian AD systems have been involved in both the Ukraine and Middle East wars.
It would be interesting to examine some of these AD systems, their origin, and their evolution over the last half-century.
S-200 (SA-5 Gammon)
The S-200 is a Russian medium-to-high-altitude Surface Air Missile (SAM) static, ground-launched system. It was developed in the 1950s primarily to counter the U.S. B-58 supersonic bomber and U2 spy plane.
The 10.7-meter-long missile has a launch weight of 7,000 kg and a 217 kg or 25 KT high-explosive fragmentation nuclear-capable payload. Its single-stage liquid motor and four wraparound jettison-able solid propellant boosters give it a range of 60-300 km.
Since its initial deployment in 1966, the S-200 received multiple upgrades to increase the range and accuracy. In 1967, the original S-200A “Angara” incorporated relatively advanced technology for the era, such as a continuous wave (CW) semi-active homing seeker radar for terminal guidance.
The S-200V “Vega,” S-200M “Vega M,” and S-200VE “Vega Export” were introduced between 1970 and 1972. These systems fired missiles in the range of 200-250 km.
By 1975, the S-200D “Dubna” was operational. It was a nuclear-capable system that fired an improved rocket with a range of 300 km. At its peak in 1985, the S-200V was deployed at over 130 launch sites throughout the Soviet Union, comprising 338 batteries with 2030 launchers.
The Soviet Union exported the S-200 to numerous countries, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Poland, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.
Syria was the first country outside of the Soviet Union to use S-200s, and nearly six of these systems were active. On October 16, 2017, on Syria’s national “Air Force and Air Defence Day,” Syrian S-200s were fired on several Israeli aircraft flying reconnaissance over Lebanon.
The missile interceptors reportedly failed to hit their targets. A few hours later, Israeli fighters launched four missiles at the S-200 site, incapacitating the system.
On April 22, 2021, a stray S-200 missile exploded in the air some 30 kilometers from the Dimona nuclear reactor over Israel. The missile was fired from Dumayr as part of a salvo in response to Israeli jets conducting strikes on targets in the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli air defenses tried to intercept the errant missile but missed. Around an hour later, Israeli fighter jets struck the air defense battery, which launched the missile.
On October 4, 2001, the Ukrainian military accidentally shot down Siberia Airlines Flight 1812, flying from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk. As part of an air defense exercise, two missiles, one from an S-200 and one from an S-300, were launched at a target drone off the Black Sea’s Crimean coast.
The missile from the S-300 successfully intercepted the drone, but the errant S-200 missile flew an extra 240 km before hitting a Russian Tu-154 commercial airliner flying at 35,000 ft above the Black Sea, killing all 78 crew and passengers.
Ukraine used S-200 missiles in 2023 as well, during the Russian invasion, to attack Russian positions in Bryansk Oblast and Crimea. It was reported that the missiles were used in an attack on the Crimean Bridge. Ukraine claimed to have used an S-200 to shoot down a Beriev A-50 on February 23, 2024, over the Sea of Azov.
On April 19, 2024, Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber over Stavropol Krai. Russian authorities, however, claimed the aircraft crashed due to a technical malfunction. Currently, there are four active S-200 batteries (approximately 24 launchers) and twelve inactive sites in Ukraine.
In 1989, India purchased two S-200 Angara systems with 24 missiles. Today, the S-200 augments India’s lower-altitude air defenses along with advanced ABMs, such as the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) and Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile interceptors.
Pantsir S-1
The Pantsir S-1 (SA-22 Greyhound) is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile (SPAAGM) system developed in 1989. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was put on a slow burner.
Initially meant for the defense of airfields, missile silos, command centers, and communication arrays, the Pantsir was redefined as a short-range defense for Russian ground forces and longer-range air defense systems like the S-300, S-400 and S-500. Finally, it was inducted in 2003 as a replacement for the 2K22 Tunguska air defense system.
The Pantsir incorporates anti-aircraft guns and missiles to intercept tactical aircraft, precision-guided munitions (PGMs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Using its solid-state search radar, the Pantsir can track up to 20 tactical aircraft-sized targets at 32-36 km range.
After detection, the system can select targets with its high-frequency engagement radar or optional thermal imaging sensor. The missile has a 20 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead. The effective range is 20 km for Pantsir-S1, 30 km (Pantsir-S1M), 40 km (Pantsir-SM).
The baseline Pantsir system has up to twelve missiles and two 30mm cannons, allowing it to simultaneously engage up to four targets. Although each Pantsir launch vehicle can function independently, they typically operate in batteries of six launcher vehicles.
Since 2020, two new Pantsir-compatible missiles have been developed. The first, with a smaller fragmentation warhead and a top speed of Mach 5, has reportedly entered Russian service. The second missile remains under development and is meant to defeat small drones. It will have a maximum range of 5-7 km and a reduced size, allowing up to 48 to be fitted on a Pantsir turret.
Other than Russia, Pantsir operators include Algeria, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Syria, the UAE, and Vietnam. Russia has deployed Pantsir S-1 to Syria. The Pantsir has also played an active role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
S-300 (SA-10 Grumble)
Development of the S-300P began in 1967 and was meant to address the emerging threat of long-range air-launched cruise missiles. The later variants S-300V (SA-23A Gladiator), and the (SA-23B Giant), are equipped with an anti-ballistic missile capability. While the system has yet to be used in actual combat, its testing record indicates similar performance to the MIM-104 Patriot PAC-2.
It entered operational service in 1978. At its peak in 2000, Russian air defense forces fielded approximately 1,900 S-300 launchers. By 2017, however, the number of active launchers dropped to around 800.
The S-300P currently uses three different types of missiles, each around 7.50 m long, with different high-explosive fragmentation warheads triggered by proximity and impact fuses to destroy its targets. Its maximum effective ranges are 50 to 150 km. The S-300V has a range between 6 to 100 km and a 40-kilometer altitude for the ABM role.
The S-300P was acquired by Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Greece, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The S-300V is with Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. China had obtained 15 battalions (4 systems) of the S-300PMU-2 (300 launchers).
The S-300P is no longer in production. However, export orders for the system continue to be taken and filled out using refurbished models. Recently, the system has received significant international attention due to its deployment to Crimea and Syria and its export to Iran.
In October 2016, Russia deployed S-300V systems in Syria at its naval base in Tartus and in Crimea alongside the S-300P. The S-300V4, also called S-300VMD, was developed to target high-value airborne targets, such as AWACS aircraft, at long distances. S-300V4 missiles have a range of 400 kilometers at Mach 7.5 or 350 kilometers at Mach 9 and can destroy maneuvering targets even at very high altitudes.
S-300Vs are currently deployed in Russia’s Kaliningrad Enclave alongside the S-400. This deployment allows Russia to extend an anti-access, area-denial (A2AD) zone across much of central Europe, allowing Russia to target aircraft well inside NATO territory.
At the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine had around 100 active S-300 batteries with as many as 300 launchers but with only 40 percent serviceability. Russia has knocked down many of these launchers. Iran reportedly had four S-300 systems before the October 26 Israeli attack and deployed these units to defend its Fordow uranium enrichment facility. Israel claims that all four were destroyed.
S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler)
The S-400 is a mobile SAM capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, and cruise missiles and has a terminal ballistic missile defense capability. It represents the fourth generation of long-range Russian SAMs and is the successor to the S-200 and S-300.
Unlike some US Patriot interceptors, the S-400 does not currently employ hit-to-kill ballistic missile defense technology. The 40N6 missile used by the S-400 extends its range to 400 km. Russia is also developing a new interceptor, the 77N6, which is believed to employ hit-to-kill technology.
The S-400’s development began in 1993. The missile uses a 143 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead with a range of 250-400 km and a 60 km altitude as an ABM. Nearly 70-80 percent of the technology, including missile storage containers, launchers, and radars, was adapted from the S-300, and it has been in service since 2007.
The S-400 units defend Moscow. They are also stationed in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, where they defend Russia’s significant military presence from aerial attacks.
The system was also deployed to Tartus, Syria, in 2015 to guard Russian and Syrian naval and air assets. Russia has also stationed S-400 units in Crimea since 2014. Ukraine has claimed to have destroyed many S-400 launchers through strikes in Russia. China has acquired six battalions, and India has ordered five battalions and received three so far.
In 2020, Turkey received four batteries consisting of 36 fire units and 192 or more missiles. Russia has quashed the rumored possibility of Turkey handing over its S-400 system to the US in exchange for reviving the F-35 deal. Moscow claims that the purchase deal includes an end-user certificate prohibiting the system’s sale to a third party without Moscow’s consent.
Tor (SA-15 Gauntlet)
The 9K330 Tor is a Russian Short-range Air Defence (SHORAD) mobile SAM system with an engagement range of 12 to 16 kilometers. It was a successor to the 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) and is meant to defend point targets and armored divisions against aircraft, helicopters, and precision-guided munitions.
It uses a 15 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead and has the capacity (limited) to fire while moving. The system has been operational since 1986.
The baseline Tor system uses two radars to detect and engage, and it carries 9M330/9M331 missiles on a tracked chassis. The mechanically scanned surveillance radar can scan up to 48 targets and serves a secondary tracking function for up to 10 targets.
The surveillance radar’s detection range is reportedly 25 km. The second, an electronically steered tracking radar, can simultaneously engage up to two targets with radar cross sections (RCS) as small as 0.1sq.m.
The Tor-M1 has a maximum engagement altitude of 6 km and a range of 15 km. The Tor-M2 family can be armed with up to eight 9M331 or sixteen 9M338-series missiles, expanding its engagement range to 16 km and ceiling to 10 km against targets under Mach 3.
In addition, the Tor-M2 features a reduced crew size of three, improved detection radars sensitive to low-RCS targets, shorter reaction time, new optical and thermal detection systems, enhanced signal processing, and other improvements.
Another enhanced variant, the Tor-M2U, features upgraded missiles capable of engaging agile targets maneuvering up to 10g. The Tor-E2 is a “new generation” system capable of detecting targets at 32 km and engaging four simultaneously. Russia operates a naval version of the Tor (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) on several surface ships.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, and Russia operate the system. Since 2000, China has bought a large number of Tor-M1 units, which became the basis of its reverse-engineered HQ-17 system.
Russia sold 30 Tor-M1 systems to Iran for over $1 billion. US intelligence had implicated an Iranian Tor-M1 in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 as it departed Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on January 8, 2020.
S-500 Prometheus
The S-500 is a mobile SAM/ABM designed to counter aircraft, ballistic, and cruise missiles and reportedly can target low-orbit satellites. It supplements the S-400 and the A-235 ABM missile systems.
Russia began developing the S-500 in 2010, shortly after deploying the S-400 in 2007. It has been in service with the Russian Space Forces since September 2021.
Russia claims that the S-500 can intercept all types of modern hypersonic weapons and has claimed to have successfully tested such capability.
The final planned range is 600 km for ABM and 500 km for air defense. The S-500 was envisaged to detect and simultaneously engage up to 10 ballistic hypersonic targets flying at a maximum of 7 km/sec.
The altitude of a target engaged is claimed to be as high as 180-200 km. Its claimed response time is less than 4 seconds, compared to the S-400’s around 10.
Russia has ordered ten S-500 battalions to gradually replace the S-300 systems. The first under-development unit was deployed around Moscow in October 2021.
In June 2024, Ukraine claimed the S-500 had been deployed to the Crimean peninsula to defend the Kerch Bridge. Production variants will be deployed in Moscow and the country’s central area in 2025. A naval version is the likely armament for the new Lider-class destroyers.
In recent tests, the S-500 was able to hit a target 482 km away, 80 km further than the previous record. In July 2021, the Russian MoD released the first public footage of a live-fire test of the new S-500 ABM system at Kapustin Yar. The cost for one S-500 system was estimated to be around $700-$800 million in 2020 and up to $2.5 billion in 2023.
Way Ahead
Current Russian air defense doctrine follows a three-tier approach. This layered system allows Russian air defense forces to create difficult-to-penetrate anti-access area-denial (A2AD) zones.
The upper tier of these defensive networks uses long-range systems such as the S-200, S-300, S-400, and S-500, providing air defense bubbles potentially up to 1,000 km in diameter.
The second tier includes medium-range systems like the 9K37 Buk and its variants. This medium-range layer increases the overall radar coverage and augments the relatively smaller numbers of expensive long-range systems.
The close-range tier has mobile short-range systems like the 9K33 Osa and S-125 Neva (Pechora) for protecting vital points such as military bases. The mobile variants of these are often used by ground forces on the move.
Due to their vulnerability to low-flying threats such as drones and cruise missiles, the larger systems are also often protected by point-defense systems like the Pantsir-S1.
India has a huge inventory of Russian AD systems, including Igla-S Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS), ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled radar-guided anti-aircraft guns, S-125 Neva/Pechora, OSA-AK-M, and S-400.
In September 2021, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said that India could be a prospective customer and probably the first S-500.
Notwithstanding the Western sanctions and loss of some European sources for sub-systems, Russian AD systems remain formidable. Russia is recalibrating sourcing from countries like China. Even the American and NATO countries have acknowledged the prowess of Russian AD systems.
- Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired) is an Indian Air Force veteran fighter test pilot and former Director-General of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. He has been decorated with gallantry and distinguished service medals while serving in the IAF for 40 years.
- He tweets @Chopsyturvey
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