It would seem, what can military equipment, whose age has recently exceeded fifty years, count on? Probably no matter what, in principle. However, sometimes the designers of the past years managed to make such equipment, which, undergoing regular modernization, can significantly exceed the originally expected service life. One of these types of weapons is the S-125 Neva anti-aircraft missile system. In the Soviet Union, it was put into service in 1961, and in a number of countries its export version with the name "Pechora" is still used. For the most part, these are developing countries and countries of the so-called. third world. For a number of economic and geopolitical reasons, it makes no sense for them to purchase something much newer, for example, the S-300 air defense system, but there is a desire to defend against threats from the sky. Especially for such poor states in Russia, as well as in several other countries, half a dozen modifications of the C-125 were created. Their purpose is similar: increasing the characteristics of the complex without special financial costs.
The last Russian modification of the good old S-125 complex is the Pechora-2M, created in the mid-2000s. Changes during the modernization mainly affected the electronics of the complex, which received new capabilities to counter the means of electronic warfare and anti-radar missiles of the enemy. It was this version of the S-125 air defense system that at one time interested the military leadership of Venezuela. Recently it became known that the signing of the contract and subsequent deliveries eventually allowed Caracas to deploy the first full-fledged battery of these anti-aircraft missile systems. According to the press service of the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, the new air defense systems will cover the area of the Las Piedras international airport and a large industrial zone next to it.
In total, according to the plans of the Ministry of Defense of Venezuela, ten similar air defense areas will be created in the coming years. This modernization of the country's air defense is carried out in accordance with the CADAI program, which provides for the allocation of about 100 million US dollars for new air defense systems and related systems. As a result of the purchase and deployment of new air defense systems, the entire territory of Venezuela will be protected from attack. In addition, according to unverified data, in the future, Caracas may offer its neighbors - Guyana and Colombia - to create a unified air defense system. However, there is no official confirmation of this information. Publicly available data says that Venezuela's order implies the supply of 11 batteries of the Pechora-2M complexes. The first battery from the order arrived in Venezuela last year, and in February this new Pechora took part in the parade for the first time.
A couple of words about the material part. Each battery of the Pechora-2M complexes includes eight self-propelled launchers on the MZKT-8021-020 chassis. Each of them simultaneously carries two different types of guided missiles. Also, each battery relies on the S-125-2M missile guidance station, mounted on the MZKT-80211-020 chassis. In addition, the battery has at its disposal trucks, transport-loading and other vehicles based on the Ural-4320 trucks, etc. It is not difficult to calculate how many anti-aircraft missiles can be simultaneously deployed by the Venezuelan military.
Despite its great age, the S-125 in the Pechora-2M version is a significantly modernized air defense system. The fact of large changes in the composition of various equipment allows us to make assumptions about the sufficient combat effectiveness that the Pechora-2M possesses. Nevertheless, a significant part of the components and assemblies have switched to a new modification, perhaps not from the original C-125 of the very first version and have an appropriate age. All this taken together gives certain grounds to doubt the high efficiency of the Pechora-2M and, as a consequence, the ability to withstand the enemy's modern technology. However, in favor of the decent quality of the new air defense systems, the good experience of using earlier versions of the S-125 in the course of a number of conflicts can speak. For example, during the Vietnam War, this complex was a real headache for American pilots. One of the last known uses relates to the Balkan conflict of the late 90s. Then the outdated S-125s still managed to destroy a number of NATO aircraft. Moreover, according to a number of sources, it was the anti-aircraft gunners from the calculation of the S-125 anti-aircraft missile system that shot down the vaunted American F-117A.
Obviously, the original S-125 now poses almost no threat to enemy aircraft. In this regard, it was necessary to carry out modernization. It should be noted that many countries needed such an improvement, but not Russia, where the S-125s were withdrawn from service a long time ago. Thus, the modernization of the complex was a purely commercial project. For some reason, the modernization of the complex was undertaken not by NPO Almaz (creator of the S-125), but by a new company founded by people from Almaz. OJSC "Defense Systems" first of all saw the improvement of the complex in the replacement of electronic equipment. Therefore, both of their developments - "Pechora-2" and "Pechora-2M" - instead of lamp equipment have transistor equipment. This made it possible to significantly increase the performance of electronic systems, as well as to reduce the dimensions of the entire complex. In addition, some of the units and, as a result, the characteristics were borrowed from the S-300P anti-aircraft missile system. In addition to the available means of detection and target designation, an all-weather optical location complex with television and thermal imaging channels was introduced into the Pechora-2M equipment. It is the optical target detection system that is one of those innovations that allow the Pechora-2M to operate in conditions of electronic countermeasures by the enemy, including when they use anti-radar missiles. Finally, all the components of the updated complex are installed on a self-propelled chassis, which makes it possible to transfer batteries in the shortest possible time and change the location of individual launchers. In this case, the latter can be located at a distance of up to 10 kilometers from the command vehicle. Communication between the elements of the complex can be carried out both using wired (fiber-optic) communication, and wirelessly. In light of the range of missiles of the order of 15-18 kilometers (5V27 missile), the possibility of dispersing launchers significantly increases the potential of the battery, especially in the case of small countries. According to various estimates, the characteristics of the updated S-125 are very close to those of the S-300PM and even the S-300PMU. Considering the cost of modernizing old S-125s or producing new Pechor-2Ms, it is not difficult to understand the official Caracas' interest in modernized anti-aircraft missile systems.
Shortly before Venezuela, "Pechora-2M" was adopted by several countries, in particular, Mongolia and Egypt. Also, some states, for example Vietnam, are currently considering upgrading the existing C-125 or purchasing new modifications of this air defense system. At the same time, one should not forget the fact that not only Russian companies are engaged in the creation of improved versions of the S-125 air defense system. So, just over the past ten years, Belarus has brought to the market two options for modernizing the S-125 at once. Nevertheless, Venezuela chose the Russian Pechora-2M complex. The explanation for this concerns several advantages of the Russian air defense system at once. First, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long announced his intentions to build a full-fledged air defense system of the country, divided into several echelons. Russia, in turn, offered not only the anti-aircraft missile systems themselves, but also the entire communications and coordination system as a whole. Secondly, the modernization of the S-125 from "Defense Systems" has slightly better performance and maintenance economics than its foreign competitors. Finally, Pechora-2M is fully and unconditionally compatible with the old missiles of the S-125 complex, which allows a country that has sufficient stocks of such ammunition not to waste money on buying new missiles and disposing of old ones. Thus, Venezuela will be able to use old missiles for some time, for example, for training purposes, and, if necessary, buy modified ones.
In addition to the Pechora-2M, Venezuela will soon receive from Russia a considerable number of other air defense systems. This will be a S-300VM air defense missile system division, three Buk-M2E divisions, 300 ZU-23 / ZOM4 anti-aircraft guns, as well as 11 P-18M radars and a number of equipment for creating a unified air defense system. In general, the cooperation of the countries has its positive consequences: Venezuela receives means of protecting its airspace, and Russian enterprises receive orders for substantial sums.
