Drafted — not technically validated
Record revision 1 · The first Soviet SAM: 56 fixed sites in two rings around Moscow, command-guided.
Real-world system as described in public sources. Figures vary between variants and sources, so differences are shown beside the number they affect. Simulator implementations may differ.
SA-1 Guild · S-25 Berkut
- Role
- Strategic air defence of Moscow [1]
- In service
- 1955 (combat ready June 1956) to 1986 [1]
- Guidance
- Command guidance [1]
- Range
- up to 40 km (21.6 NM); minimum not given [1]
- Altitude
- up to 20,000 m (65,600 ft); minimum not given [1]
- Mobility and deployment
- Fixed sites in two rings around Moscow [1]
- Radars
- B-200 “Yo-Yo” (E band): Fire control, 150 km range
- A-100 “Gage” (E band): Acquisition, 300 km range
- P-14 “Tall King” (A band): Early warning, 550 km range
- RWR symbol
- None
Figure 1 — SA-1 Guild engagement limits (side view)
S-25: operational range 32–40 km, flight ceiling 20 km [1]. No minimum range or altitude in the cited source. The shaded region combines the published minimum and maximum range, treated as slant range from the launcher, with the minimum and maximum altitude. Real launch zones are smaller and change with target speed, aspect and altitude. Dashed edges mark limits the cited sources do not give. Other SAMs in this section are drawn faintly for comparison, labelled by SA number. Each scale prints its vertical exaggeration.
Overview
The S-25 Berkut, NATO reporting name SA-1 Guild, was the first Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The Lavochkin design bureau designed it from 1950 and it was produced from 1954 to 1959. It became operational in 1955, was combat ready in June 1956 and served until 1986. [1]
Where it stood
The SA-1 was never a field system. It defended Moscow alone, from two rings of fixed launch sites around the city: 24 launch sites in the inner ring and 32 in the outer ring. Everywhere else, the Soviet Union relied on the mobile S-75SA-2 Guideline Threat systemThe classic six-launcher site around a Fan Song radar: radio-command-guided, and the SAM US crews met over North Vietnam. (SA-2SA-2 Guideline Threat systemThe classic six-launcher site around a Fan Song radar: radio-command-guided, and the SAM US crews met over North Vietnam.) instead. [1]
How it engages
The missile used command guidance: it was steered by commands from the ground rather than by a seeker of its own. A liquid-propellant rocket motor gave it a top speed of MachMach number GlossaryFlight: The ratio of the true airspeed to the speed of sound. All compressibility effects depend on it. 2.5, and a 250 kg (550 lb) high-explosive fragmentation warhead was set off by impact or proximity fuzesProximity fuze GlossaryWeapons: A fuze that detonates before impact when any substantial object is detected at a predetermined distance from it.. The published operational range is 32–40 km (17–22 NM) with a flight ceiling of 20 km (65,600 ft). [1]
Its radars, by NATO name, were the B-200 Yo-Yo fire-control radar (E band, 150 km), the A-100 Gage acquisition radar (E band, 300 km) and the P-14 Tall King early-warning radar (A band, 550 km). [1]
Figure 2 — SA-1 Guild on a radar warning receiver
No symbol. The cited F-14 AN/ALR-67 threat table [2] has no SA-1 or Yo-Yo entry.
Figure 3 — SA-1 Guild site rings (plan view)
Schematic symbols for each element, drawn from the composition given in [1]; not vehicle outlines and not to scale.
Sources
- S-25 Berkut. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-25_Berkut (accessed 2026-10-25).
- DCS: F-14 Tomcat manual, AN/ALR-67 radar warning receiver. Heatblur Simulations. https://f14.manuals.heatblur.se/f14ab/systems/defensive_systems/rwr/alr_67.html (accessed 2026-10-25).
Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. The Heatblur manual describes the DCS F-14's AN/ALR-67, not every aircraft's radar warning receiver.