SA-5 Gammon

S-200 Dubna SA-5 Gammon
S-200 missile (Vega) on its launcher
Type	Strategic SAM system
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1967–present
Used by	See list of present and former operator
Production history
Designer	Almaz/Antei Concern of Air Defence
Designed	early 1950s
Variants	S-200, S-200V (S-200VE), S-200D (S-200DE), S-200A
Specifications
Guidance system	semi-active radar homing

The NPO Almaz S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna (Russian Ангара\Вега\Дубна), NATO reporting name SA-5 , is a very long range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system designed in the 1960s to defend large areas from bomber attack or other strategic aircraft. Each battalion has 6 single-rail missile launchers for the 10.8 m (35 ft) long missiles and a fire control radar. It can be linked to other, longer-range radar systems.

The S-200 surface-to-air missile system was designed for the defense of the most important administrative, industrial and military installations from all types of air attack. S-200 provides defeat of modern and advanced aircraft, including air command and control centers, AWACS aircraft, aircraft jamming creation and other manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The S-200 is an all-weather system that can be operated in various climatic conditions.

By 1966, the S-200 was officially accepted into service in order to replace the failed anti-ballistic missile RZ-25/5V11 "Dal". The Dal was assigned the NATO reporting name SA-5 "Griffon" before it was cancelled.

The first S-200 operational regiments were deployed in 1966 with 18 sites and 342 launchers in service by the end of the year. By 1968 there were 40 sites, and by 1969 there were 60 sites. The growth in numbers then gradually increased throughout the 1970s (1,100 launchers) and early 1980s until the peak of 130 sites and 2,030 launchers was reached in 1980–1990.

Each missile is launched by 4 solid-fueled strap-on rocket boosters. After they burn out and drop away (between 3 and 5.1 seconds from launch) it fires a 5D67 liquid fueled sustainer rocket engine (for 51–150 seconds) which burns a fuel called TG-02 Samin (50% xylidine and 50% triethylamine), oxidized by an agent called AK-27P Melange (fuming nitric acid enriched with nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acid). Maximum range is between 150 km (81 nmi) and 300 km (160 nmi), depending on the model. The missile uses radio illumination mid-course correction to fly towards the target with a terminal semi-active radar homing phase. Maximum target speed is around Mach 4. Effective altitude is 300 m (980 ft) to 20,000 m (66,000 ft) for early models and up to 35,000 m (115,000 ft) for later models. The warhead is either 217 kg (478 lb) high-explosive fragmentation (16,000 × 2 g fragmentation pellets and 21,000 × 3.5 g pellets) triggered by radar proximity fuse or command signal, or a 25 kt nuclear warhead triggered by command signal only. Each missile weighs around 7,108 kg (15,670 lb) at takeoff.