The NPO Almaz S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna (Russian: С-200 Ангара/Вега/Дубна), NATO reporting name SA-5 Gammon (initially Tallinn),[3] is a long-range, high-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s to defend large areas from high-altitude bombers or other targets.

In Soviet service, these systems were deployed primarily on the battalion level, with six launchers and a fire control radar.

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.

[7] The Iranian air defense force has implemented several improvements on their S-200 systems such as using solid state parts and removing restrictions on working time.

This requires the site to be defended by AAA, SPAAA, MANPADS, other shorter range air defense systems, and other means of protection from adversary SEAD platforms.

[27] Initial detection of targets was conducted by a P-14/5N84A (NATO: Tall King C) A band early warning radar, operating in the 150–170 MHz range at 3–6 RPM,[28] with a PRV-17 (NATO: Odd Group) height finding radar assisting in determining the target's altitude.

[34] Triggered by radar proximity fuse, the warhead was designed to destroy targets within a 120-degree cone at up to 200 m (660 ft).

[37] In the following months, Libyan forces fired a number of S-200 missiles on different occasions at US fighter-bombers, missing them.

[41][42] They were organized into two long range surface-to-air missile regiments, each composed of two battalions of two batteries each for a total of at least 24 launchers.

[48] For example, in July 2016, the Syrian Army, with Russian assistance, rebuilt an S-200 site at Kweires airport, near Aleppo.

[52] One of the Syrian missiles, going ballistic after losing its target, was inbound to a populated area in Israel.

[55] On October 16, 2017, a Syrian S-200 battery located around 50 kilometers east of Damascus fired a missile at an Israeli Air Force surveillance mission over Lebanon.

[61] Both the pilot and the navigator managed to eject; one was injured lightly, the other more seriously, but both survived and walked out of the hospital one week later.

[63] On September 17, 2018, a Russian Il-20M ELINT plane was shot down by a Syrian S-200 surface-to-air missile killing all the 15 servicemen onboard[citation needed].

Four Israeli F-16 fighter jets attacked targets in Syria's Latakia with standoff missiles, after approaching from the Mediterranean Sea, a statement by the Russian defense ministry said on 18 September.

“The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces.

The warning came a minute before the attack started, which “did not leave time to move the Russian plane to a safe area,” the statement said.

[68] On 22 April 2021, a stray S-200 missile exploded in the air some 30 kilometers from the Dimona nuclear reactor over Israel.

Around an hour later, IDF said Israeli fighter jets struck the air defense battery which launched the missile.

[77] Ukrainian armed forces claim to have used an S-200 to shoot down a Beriev A-50 in the evening of 23 February 2024 over the Sea of Azov.

Russian authorities claimed the aircraft crashed due to a technical malfunction, killing one crew member, with another missing.

[79][80][81][82] On 19 April 2024, Ukraine claimed to have shot it down, at a range of 308 kms, using an S-200 missile, according to an interview with Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the HUR.