70 years ago, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decree on the development of the first domestic anti-aircraft missile system (SAM). This project was named S-25 "Berkut". The main purpose of this system was to provide a circular air defense of Moscow.

The government decree provided for the manufacture and deployment of 56 stationary firing systems at a distance of several tens of kilometers from the center of Moscow. The range of anti-aircraft missiles was to be 30-35 km, radar stations (radar) - 200 km.

“Each complex included a guidance radar and a launch position for 60 missiles and provided simultaneous firing of 20 targets in its sector,” the RF Ministry of Defense said.

The rocket was created within the walls of OKB-301 (Khimki) under the leadership of the chief designer Semyon Lavochkin. A team of engineers headed by Vladimir Barmin, a colleague of Sergei Korolev, was responsible for the manufacture of ground-based components of the S-25.

The development of guidance and control means for the "Berkut" was entrusted to specialists from the Research Institute-244 of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. Engineering structures for the operation of the air defense missile system were designed by the Moscow branch of Lengiprostroy. This infrastructure included ring roads, storage bases for ammunition and various equipment, military camps and barracks.

"Expensive and complex system"

In May 1951, by order of the government and the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, near Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan Region), a new test site began to be created for testing a prototype "Berkut".

On July 25, 1951, the S-25 launched the B-300 anti-aircraft missile for the first time. Three months later, tests of a prototype of the B-200 guidance station began near Moscow. In the spring of 1953, at an altitude of 7 km "Berkut" intercepted a Tu-4 target, firing at it one missile with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead. In the second half of 1954, during firing in the area of ​​responsibility of the air defense of Moscow, the air defense system destroyed the Il-28 target aircraft.

On April 1, 1955, the Soviet military completed state tests of the S-25, and the next month the complex was put into service. The operation of air defense missile launchers and radar stations was carried out by units of the 1st Special Air Defense Army, which were stationed near Moscow.

  • Rockets for the S-25 air defense system at the parade in Moscow
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The formation of the capital's air defense system was actually completed in 1956. The protection of the sky over Moscow and the region was provided by two echelons with a total of 56 regiments. There were 60 launchers in the area where each unit was deployed.

The peculiarity of the placement of the S-25 anti-aircraft missiles was that they were not located in containers. The firing positions were vertical launch pillars standing in several rows, which were easily visible on the ground.

At the same time, the missile guidance stations were located in semi-recessed reinforced concrete structures, which were masked from above with grass cover.

The S-25 had the ability to simultaneously fire on up to 20 targets. Up to three missiles were diverted to destroy one air object. In August 1956, the air defense missile systems for the first time took part in the exercises of the air defense forces, intercepting 191 targets.

Ammunition for the S-25 was first demonstrated to the general public at a parade in Moscow on November 7, 1960.

In the process of operation, Soviet enterprises constantly improved missiles to solve problems of repelling massive enemy air raids.

In the 1960s, the infrastructure of the capital's air defense system underwent modernization. The updated S-25M complexes were on alert until 1982 and were subsequently replaced by self-propelled C-300 air defense systems.

According to experts, the deployment of the C-25 in the second half of the 1950s gave a powerful impetus to the development of domestic anti-aircraft systems, radar and air defense command and control. The experience in the development and operation of the Berkut made it possible to realize the need for the subsequent equipping of the USSR army with mobile and self-propelled air defense systems.

For example, the scientific and technological groundwork obtained as part of the S-25 project was used to create the S-75 complex, which on May 1, 1960, in the sky over the Sverdlovsk region, was shot down by the US Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. Subsequently, this air defense system was successfully used in the Vietnam War to destroy American aircraft.

  • © PJSC NPO Almaz

“Among other things, the S-25 is the first domestic multi-channel air defense system, that is, it could track different types of targets. But "Berkut" turned out to be very large and therefore was located in stationary positions in the Moscow region. At that time, it was an expensive and complex system, "military expert Yuri Lyamin explained in an interview with RT.

According to him, in the process of creating the S-25, Soviet designers had to solve many problems in the shortest possible time. In particular, computer technology was at the initial stage of development - Soviet electronic computers of the 1950s were bulky and consumed a significant amount of energy.

“The large size of the electronic equipment severely limited the developers of anti-aircraft missile systems, but this problem existed all over the world. In the 1950s, only an advanced country could pull such a project as an air defense system. And the task set by the leadership of the USSR was successfully completed. We managed to develop new radars, missiles, control systems, ”said Lyamin.

"Development has stepped far forward"

In an interview with RT, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko stressed that the S-25 was created practically from scratch. The main task that the Soviet government sought to solve was the fight against the combat aircraft of Western countries, including American nuclear bombers.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, since the beginning of the Cold War, foreign aircraft often violated the state borders of the USSR with impunity, and in 1951-1952, the Soviet military recorded attempts to "deep breakthroughs" by jet reconnaissance aircraft.

  • S-75 rocket launch
  • © Wikimedia commons

“In 34 cases of violations, only three foreign aircraft were shot down and three more were damaged, while losing one of our own aircraft and killing a pilot,” the Ministry of Defense said.

The Soviet leadership saw the solution to this problem in the improvement of fighter aircraft and the appearance of anti-aircraft missile systems.

“The implementation of the S-25 project was a breakthrough in the creation of a new class of weapons and made it possible to lay the foundation, in my opinion, of the world's best school for the development, production and operation of air defense systems. Today all this has materialized in the Almaz-Antey concern, which produces world-famous air defense systems, "Korotchenko said.

Yuri Lyamin believes that the key to the success of the development of domestic air defense systems is the permanent threat posed by the aviation of NATO member countries. At the same time, according to the expert, since the 1960s, Western military aircraft have not "risked" violating the state borders of the USSR and the Russian Federation.

“Of course, today the S-25 and S-75 may seem primitive, because over the past decades, the development of domestic air defense systems has stepped far forward. But in the 1950s, a tradition of developing air defense systems was created with tremendous efforts. And today, this area is quite rightly still given special attention of the state, ”Lyamin summed up.