Missile warehouse empty, Ukraine reuses veteran S-200

According to War Zone, Ukraine's mysterious S-200 surface-to-air missile system is believed to be involved in a number of serious Russian aircraft shootdowns.

For the first time, Ukraine has released a video showing the country using the Soviet-era S-200 long-range surface-to-air missile (also known as SA-5 Gammon). Photo: @GUR.

The clip was released by the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense . Filmed at an undisclosed location, the video shows the missile being positioned before being launched from a fixed S-200 launcher somewhere on the Black Sea coast. Photo: @GUR.

It's unclear when the clip was filmed, but the bare treetops suggest it was shot sometime in fall, winter, or early spring. Photo: @GUR.

A product of the Cold War, the S-200 was first deployed by the Soviet Union in the late 1960s. At the time, the system was used to shoot down high-flying American bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Photo: @GUR.

Typically, each S-200 system deployed in batteries is supported by a long-range surveillance radar, a target acquisition and search radar, a missile guidance radar, and several other support components. But in the video from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, only the missiles and their launchers are visible. Photo: @GUR.

These missiles belong to the 5V28 series and each missile is about 10 meters long, nearly 86 centimeters in diameter, and can attack targets at a maximum range of up to 300 kilometers. In Soviet service, the 5V28 missiles could be equipped with command-detonated nuclear warheads, but in Ukrainian hands, these missiles are only equipped with conventional warheads weighing 217 kilograms, with integrated proximity fuses. Photo: @GUR.

Before the current conflict with Russia, the S-200 was best known in Ukrainian service, following the infamous incident in October 2001, when a stray missile from the system shot down a Russian passenger plane over the Black Sea during a live-fire exercise. Photo: @GUR.

By 2010, it was reported that Ukraine had only four S-200 batteries still in operation, with 12 other S-200 batteries no longer in service. Later reports indicated that the S-200 had been completely removed from Ukrainian service by 2013. Photo: @GUR.

However, it seems that the demands of the war with Russia forced Ukraine to reactivate these S-200 batteries. The first evidence of Ukraine's use of the S-200 after February 2022 comes from Russian reports. Russian reports from the summer of 2023 show that missiles from the S-200 system were used by Ukraine to attack ground targets in the Russian rear areas in Ukraine and in Russia itself. Photo: @GUR.

A video that emerged at the same time showed a missile that looked very similar to an S-200 missile being launched and then plummeting almost vertically towards a target, believed to be in the Bryansk region of western Russia, bordering Ukraine. Photo: @GUR.

Another video from a local surveillance camera, which emerged around the same time, shows what appears to be a 5V28 missile from an S-200 system slamming into a target — believed to be a sawmill — in the settlement of Bytosh, also in the Bryansk region. In 2023, Russia also reported that Ukraine used an S-200 to attack Morozovsk Air Base in the Rostov region. Photo: @Missile Threat - CSIS.

Other reports suggest that the S-200 was also tasked with attacking the vital Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea. Also in the summer of 2023, Ukrainian media reported an attempt to attack the bridge with the S-200 system. Photo: @Army Recognition.

While it has never been clear exactly how many S-200 systems Ukraine has, according to Ukrainian authorities, the system is believed to have been used for its original air defense purposes and has achieved some impressive results. Photo: @Flickr.

In April 2024, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR, exclusively revealed to The War Zone that an S-200 system was used to shoot down a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bomber that crashed in the Stavropol Territory in southern Russia. The British Ministry of Defense later said it was "almost certain" that an S-200 system was used to shoot down the Tu-22M3. Photo: @GUR.

At the same time as the announcement about the Tu-22M3, GUR said that Ukraine used the S-200 system to shoot down a Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control aircraft. Photo: @GUR.

Despite its age, the S-200 can still hit targets at much longer ranges. However, a Ukrainian defense official confirmed to The War Zone that Ukraine has received help from its allied partners to design an extremely advanced updated guidance system for the S-200. "The S-200 itself and the missile are a very mobile system, so if you add a suitable advanced guidance system, it is clearly a fairly modern weapon," the official added. Photo: @EurAsian Times.

It is clear that, given Ukraine’s continued need for air defence systems, it makes sense to reactivate some of its S-200s to bolster its aging surface-to-air missile systems. The S-200 is clearly far behind modern ground-based air defence systems, but its long range ensures that it can be useful in certain situations. Photo: @BBC News.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/kho-ten-lua-trong-tron-ukraine-tai-su-dung-lao-tuong-s-200-post1541602.html