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SA-2 Guideline / S-75 - Soviet SAM - Matti's Miniatures
A great choice by Matti's Miniatures, when people think 'SAM' this SA-2/S-75 is just the kind of kit that people think about. A great historic and iconic piece of equipment, well deserving of your consideration!
Other Matti's Miniatures, including the British Bloodhound can be found here on Shapeways
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.
Consequently, the Soviets initiated the development of improved air defense systems. Although the Soviet Air Defence Forces had large numbers of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), including radar-directed batteries, the limitations of guns versus high-altitude jet bombers was obvious. Therefore, the Soviet Air Defense Forces began the development of missile systems to replace the World War II-vintage gun defenses.
While the shooting down of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960 is the first publicized success for the S-75, the first aircraft actually shot down by the S-75 was a Taiwanese Martin RB-57D Canberra high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. In this case, the aircraft was hit by a Chinese-operated S-75 site near Beijing on October 7, 1959. Over the next few years, the Taiwanese ROCAF would lose a number of aircraft to the S-75: both RB-57s and various drones. On May 1, 1960, Gary Powers's U-2 was shot down while flying over the testing site near Sverdlovsk, although it is thought to have taken 14 missiles to hit his high-flying plane. That action led to the U-2 Crisis of 1960. Additionally, Chinese S-75s downed five ROCAF-piloted U-2s based in Taiwan.[5]
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a U-2 piloted by USAF Major Rudolf Anderson was shot down over Cuba by an S-75 in October 1962.[6]
Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-75_Dvina
See also: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/airdef/v-75.htm, and http://pvo.guns.ru/s75/s75.htm
