S - 125 Neva / Pechora The S - 125 " Neva / Pechora ( , NATO reporting name SA - 3 " Goa ) Soviet surface - to - air missile system was designed by Aleksei Mihailovich Isaev to complement the S - 25 and S - 75 . It has a shorter effective range and lower engagement altitude than either of its predecessors and also flies slower , but due to its two - stage design it is more effective against more maneuverable targets . It is also able to engage lower flying targets than the previous systems , and being more modern it is much more resistant to ECM than the S - 75 . The 5V24 ( V - 600 ) missiles reach around Mach 3 to 3 . 5 in flight , both stages powered by solid fuel rocket motor s . The S - 125 , like the S - 75 , uses radio command guidance . The naval version of this system has the NATO reporting name SA - N - 1 Goa and original designation M - 1 Volna ( Russian Волна – " wave " ) . Operational history . Soviet Union . The S - 125 was first deployed between 1961 and 1964 around Moscow , augmenting the S - 25 and S - 75 sites already ringing the city , as well as in other parts of the USSR . In 1964 , an upgraded version of the system , the S - 125M " Neva - M " and later S - 125M1 " Neva - M1 " was developed . The original version was designated SA - 3A by the US DoD and the new Neva - M named SA - 3B and ( naval ) SA - N - 1B . The Neva - M introduced a redesigned booster and an improved guidance system . The SA - 3 was not used against U . S . forces in Vietnam , because the Soviets feared that China ( after the souring of Sino - Soviet relations in 1960 ) , through which most , if not all of the equipment meant for North Vietnam had to travel , would try to copy the missile . Angola . The FAPA - DAA acquired a significant number of SA - 3s , and these were encountered during the first strike flown by SAAF Mirage F . 1 s against targets in Angola ever - in June 1980 . While two aircraft were damaged by SAMs during this action , the Angolans claimed to have shot down four . On 7 June 1980 , while attacking SWAPO ' s Tobias Haneko Training Camp during Operation Sceptic ( Smokeshell ) , SAAF Major Frans Pretorius and Captain IC du Plessis , both flying Mirage F . 1s , were hit by SA - 3s . Pretorius ' s aircraft was hit in a fuel line and he had to perform a deadstick landing at AFB Ondangwa . DU Plessis ' s aircraft sustained heavier damage and had to divert to Ruacana forward airstrip , where he landed with only the main undercarriage extended . Both aircraft were repaired and returned to service . Middle East . The Soviets supplied several SA - 3s to the Arab states in the late 1960s and 1970s , most notably Egypt and Syria . The SA - 3 saw extensive action during the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War . During the latter , the SA - 3 , along with the SA - 2 and SA - 6 , formed the backbone of the Egyptian air defence network . Syria deployed it for the first time during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and also during the 1982 Lebanon war . In fighting over the Beqaa Valley , however , the IAF managed to neutralize the SAM threat by launching Operation Mole Cricket 19 , in which several SA - 3 batteries , along with SA - 2s and SA - 6s , were destroyed in a single day . Iraq . A USAF F - 16 ( serial 87 - 257 ) was shot down on January 19 , 1991 , during Operation Desert Storm . The aircraft was struck by an SA - 3 just south of Baghdad . The pilot , Major Jeffrey Scott Tice , ejected safely but became a POW as the ejection took place over Iraq . It was the 8th combat loss and the first daylight raid over Baghdad . Two days before , a B - 52 G was damaged by a SAM which could have been an SA - 3 or an SA - 6 . FR Yugoslavia . A Yugoslav Army 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade 3rd battery equipped with S - 125 system managed to shoot down an F - 117 Nighthawk stealth bomber on March 27 , 1999 during the Kosovo War ( the only recorded downing of a stealth aircraft ) near village Budjanovci , about 130 milles away from Kosovo . It was also used to shoot down a NATO F - 16 fighter on May 2 ( its pilot ; Lt . Col David Goldfein , the commander of 555th Fighter Squadron , managed to eject and was later rescued by a combat search - and - rescue ( CSAR ) mission . During the war , different Yugoslav SAM sites and possibly the SA - 3 also shot down some NATO UAV s . However , apart from the two isolated successes achieved on two USAF strike aircraft , the Kosovo war demonstrated the obsolescence of these fixed SAM sites and its unreliability as part of an integrated air defence system : dozens of missiles were fired with only two aircraft downed . " The war ( in Kosovo ) proved that a competent opponent can improvise ways to overcome superior weaponry because every technology has weaknesses that can be identified and exploited , " the jury is still out even on real damage to Serbian military infrastructure , the fact remains that SAM sites forced NATO planes to fly higher and be less effective than they would have been with out these defences . Description . The S - 125 is somewhat mobile , an improvement over the S - 75 system . The missiles are typically deployed on fixed turrets containing two or four but can be carried ready - to - fire on ZIL trucks in pairs . Reloading the fixed launchers takes a few minutes . Missile . The S - 125 system uses 2 different missiles versions . The V - 600 ( or 5V24 ) had the smallest warhead with only 60 kg of High - Explosive . It had a range of about 15 km . The later version is named V - 601 ( or 5V27 ) . It has a length of 6 . 09 m , a wing span of 2 . 2 m and a body diameter of 0 . 375 m . This missile weighs 953 kg at launch , and has a 70 kg warhead containing 33 kg of HE and 4 , 500 fragments . The minimum range is 3 . 5 km , and the maximum is 35 km ( with the Pechora 2A ) . The intercept altitudes are between 100 m and 18 km . Radars . The launchers are accompanied by a command building or truck and three primary radar systems : " Flat Face " / " Squat Eye " is mounted on a van ( " Squat Eye " on a taller mast for better performance against low - altitude targets also an IFF [ Identifies Friend or Foe ] ) , " Low Blow " on a trailer and " Side Net " on a box - bodied trailer . Variants and upgrades . Naval version . Work on a naval version M - 1 Volna ( SA - N - 1 ) started in 1956 , along with work on a land version . It was first mounted on a rebuilt Kotlin class destroyer ( Project 56K ) " Bravyi " and tested in 1962 . In the same year , the system was accepted . The basic missile was a V - 600 ( or 4K90 ) ( range : from 4 to 15 km , altitude : from 0 . 1 to 10 km ) . Fire control and guidance is carried out by 4R90 Yatagan radar , with five parabolic antenna s on a common head . Only one target can be engaged at a time ( or two , for ships fitted with two Volna systems ) . In case of emergency , Volna could be also used against naval targets , due to short response time . The first launcher type was the two - missile ZIF - 101 , with a magazine for 16 missiles . In 1963 an improved two - missile launcher , ZIF - 102 , with a magazine for 32 missiles , was introduced to new ship classes . In 1967 Volna systems were upgraded to Volna - M ( SA - N - 1B ) with V - 601 ( 4K91 ) missiles ( range : 4 – 22 km , altitude : 0 . 1 – 14 km ) . In 1974 - 1976 some systems were modernized to Volna - P standard , with an additional TV target tracking channel and better resistance to jamming . Later , improved V - 601M missiles were introduced , with lower minimal attack altitude against aerial targets ( system Volna - N ) . Some Indian frigates also carry the M - 1 Volna system . Modern upgrades . Since Russia replaced all of its S - 125 sites with SA - 10 and SA - 12 systems , they decided to upgrade the S - 125 systems being removed from service to make them more attractive to export customers . Released in 2000 , the Pechora - 2 version features better range , multiple target engagement ability and a higher probability of kill ( PK ) . The launcher is moved onto a truck allowing much shorter relocation times . It is also possible to fire the Pechora - 2M system against cruise missiles . Deployment time 25 minutes , protected from the active interference , and anti - radiation missiles In 1999 , a Russian - Belarusian financial - industrial consortium called Oboronitelnye Sistemy ( Defense Systems ) was awarded a contract to overhaul Egypt ' s S - 125 SAM system . These refurbished weapons have been reintroduced as the S - 125 Pechora 2M . In 2001 , Poland began offering an upgrade to the S - 125 known as the Newa SC . This replaced many analogue components with digital ones for improved reliability and accuracy . This upgrade also involves mounting the missile launcher on a WZT - 1 tank chassis ( a TEL ) , greatly improving mobility and also adds IFF capability and data links . Radar is mounted on an 8 - wheeled heavy truck chassis ( formerly used for Scud launchers ) . Serbian modifications include terminal / camera homing from radar base . Cuba also developed a similar upgrade to the Polish one , which was displayed in La Habana in 2006 . Later the same year , the Russian version was upgraded again to the Pechora - M which upgraded almost all aspects of the system - the rocket motor , radar , guidance , warhead , fuse and electronics . There is an added laser / infra - red tracking device to allow launching of missiles without the use of the radar . There is also a version of the S - 125 available from Russia with the warhead replaced with telemetry instrumentation , for use as target drones . In October , 2010 , Ukrainian Aerotechnica announced a modernized version of S - 125 named S - 125 - 2D Pechora .