SA-2 Guideline

S-75 Lea / V-750 SA-2 Guideline
S-75 including V-750 missile on camouflaged launcher
Type	Strategic SAM system
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1957–present
Used by	See list of present and former operators
Wars	Vietnam War, Six-Day War, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Yom Kippur War, Cold War, Iran–Iraq War, Gulf War, War in Abkhazia (1992–93)
Production history
Designer	Raspletin KB-1 (head developer), Grushin MKB Fakel (missile developer), Lavochkin OKB
Designed	1953–1957
Produced	1957
Number built	Approx 4600 launchers produced
Variants	S-75 Dvina, S-75M-2 Volkhov-M, S-75 Desna, S-75M Volkhov, S-75M Volga
Specifications (V-750)
Weight	2,300 kg (5,100 lb)
Length	10,600 mm (420 in)
Diameter	700 mm (28 in)
Warhead	Frag-HE
Warhead weight	200 kg (440 lb)
Detonation mechanism	Command
Propellant	Solid-fuel booster and a storable liquid-fuel upper stage
Operational range	45 km (28 mi)
Flight altitude	25,000 m (82,000 ft)
Boost time	5 s boost, then 20 s sustain
Speed	Mach 3.5
Guidance system	Radio control command guidance
Accuracy	65 m
Launch platform	Single rail, ground mounted (not mobile)

Raspletin KB-1 (head developer),
Grushin MKB Fakel (missile developer),

The S-75 Dvina (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Since its first deployment in 1957 it has become the most widely deployed air defence system in history. It scored the first destruction of an enemy aircraft by a surface-to-air missile, shooting down a Taiwanese Martin RB-57D Canberra over China, on 7 October 1959, hitting it with three V-750 (1D) missiles at an altitude of 20 km (65,600 ft). This success was attributed to Chinese fighter aircraft at the time in order to keep the S-75 program secret.

This system first gained international fame when an S-75 battery, using the newer, longer-range and higher-altitude V-750VN (13D) missile was deployed in the 1960 U-2 incident, when it shot down the U-2 of Francis Gary Powers overflying the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The system was also deployed in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when it shot down another U-2 (piloted by Rudolf Anderson) overflying Cuba on October 27, 1962, almost precipitating a nuclear war. North Vietnamese forces used the S-75 extensively during the Vietnam War to defend Hanoi and Haiphong. It has also been locally produced in the People's Republic of China using the names HQ-1 and HQ-2.

In the early 1950s, the United States Air Force rapidly accelerated its development of long-range jet bombers carrying nuclear weapons. The USAF program led to the deployment of Boeing B-47 Stratojet supported by aerial refueling aircraft to extend its range deep into the Soviet Union. The USAF quickly followed the B-47 with the development of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which had greater range and payload than the B-47. The range, speed, and payload of these U.S. bombers posed a significant threat to the Soviet Union in the event of a war between the two countries.