The S-75 Dvina, known to NATO as the SA-2 Guideline, is a Soviet command-guided surface-to-air missile system built around V-750/V-755 missiles, single-rail launchers, Spoon Rest acquisition radar, and Fan Song guidance radar. It became a defining Cold War high-altitude air-defense system in Vietnam and Arab-Israeli wars, where fixed SAM sites shaped strike planning and suppression tactics. In Yemen, surviving S-75 missile stocks reappeared less as intact air-defense batteries than as source missiles for Houthi-aligned Qaher and Muhit strike conversions.
North Vietnamese air-defense forces received SA-2 systems after Operation Rolling Thunder began in 1965, used camouflaged and frequently moved sites around North Vietnam, and are documented shooting down U.S. aircraft including an RF-4C near Hanoi on August 12, 1967.
Egypt's 1967 air-defense network relied on Soviet-supplied SA-2 surface-to-air missile systems and ZSU-57-2 guns, but Israeli low-level air attacks and strikes against fixed sites limited the SA-2's effect during the war.
During the War of Attrition, Egypt's SA-2-based air-defense network became part of a denser Soviet-supported SAM and AAA system that contested Israeli air operations over the Suez Canal zone.
Egypt and Syria fielded SA-2s as part of integrated air-defense networks alongside SA-3, SA-6, SA-7, and antiaircraft guns; Israeli accounts cited SA-2/SA-3/SA-6/SA-7 missile fire as a major aircraft-loss driver in the opening phase.
Houthi-aligned forces seized legacy Yemeni SA-2/S-75 stocks and converted surviving missiles into Qaher-series and Muhit ballistic missiles for attacks against land targets and at sea; sources treat the current status of intact SA-2 air-defense systems as unclear.
Role detailsThe S-75 page represents a complete air-defense battery rather than a missile round alone. Public museum sources describe a normal North Vietnamese SA-2 site as a six-launcher position with control vans, support vans, Spoon Rest acquisition radar, and Fan Song guidance radar.
Spoon Rest radar provided long-range aircraft detection and passed location data into the system.
Source: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile.
Fan Song radar acquired targets and sent command guidance to launched missiles.
Source: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile.
Six single-rail launchers, control equipment, and support vehicles formed the recognizable SAM-site pattern.
Source: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile.
The catalog treats S-75/SA-2 as the air-defense system family: Soviet service and export designations identify radar and missile generations, while HQ-2 and Qaher are derivative or conversion lines rather than identical battery configurations.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| SA-75 Dvina | Early export family designation | Early Dvina-family configurations paired V-750 missiles with Fan Song radar and fixed or semi-mobile launch sites. Sources: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile, SA-2 Guideline Missile |
| S-75M Volkhov | Later Soviet family member | Volkhov is commonly treated as a later S-75 family designation in public references, but conflict reporting often collapses the family under SA-2 or S-75. Sources: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile |
| HQ-2 | Chinese derivative | The HQ-2 appears in image and derivative context as a Chinese-built member of the broader SA-2/S-75 lineage. Sources: Commons HQ-2 / SA-2 Guideline Image |
Yemen-war sources connect inherited S-75/SA-2 missile stocks to Houthi-aligned strike conversions rather than to clearly documented intact SA-2 battery operations. The linked Qaher records cover the converted missiles as separate battlefield weapons.
| Converted weapon | Lineage | Conflict context |
|---|---|---|
 | S-75/V-755 stock conversion | Early Houthi-aligned land-attack conversion from Yemeni S-75 missile stocks. |
 | Improved Qaher family member | Later Qaher-series strike missile tied to the same S-75/SA-2 conversion lineage. |
| Muhit / Mouhit | S-75-derived maritime strike conversion | IISS assesses the anti-ship ballistic missile as a conversion of the legacy S-75 Dvina system used for maritime strike. |
Sources: Iran's Support to Houthi Air Defenses in Yemen; What Air Defenses Do The Houthis In Yemen Actually Have?; Made in Yemen? Assessing the Houthis' Arms-Production Capacity.
Soviet development produced the V-750 Dvina, described by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force as the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile.
Sources: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile
The Soviet Union began exporting SA-2 systems widely in 1960, making the family a recurring Cold War air-defense export.
Sources: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile
North Vietnam began receiving SA-2 systems after the start of Operation Rolling Thunder and built camouflaged, frequently moved SAM sites with Soviet help.
Sources: SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile
During the Yom Kippur War, Egyptian and Syrian air-defense networks included SA-2s alongside newer SA-3, SA-6, SA-7, and antiaircraft-gun systems.
Sources: Rescue Mission, The Struggle for Air Superiority
Houthi-aligned forces converted legacy Yemeni S-75/V-755 missile stocks into Qaher-family surface-to-surface strike missiles during the Yemen war.
Sources: Iran's Support to Houthi Air Defenses in Yemen, What Air Defenses Do The Houthis In Yemen Actually Have?
