As rebels continue to move deeper into the territories held by the Syrian regime, they reportedly have new war spoils in their kitty, including the formidable Soviet-era S-75 air defense system that is known for shooting down several advanced warplanes.

In a devastating blow to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the rebels managed to capture the city of Hama and marched up to the gates of another Syrian city, Homs, just over a week after the “lightning offensive” was launched on November 27.

The offensive is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is an Al Qaeda offshoot in collaboration with the Syrian National Army (SNA), which Turkey reportedly supports.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant head of HTS, said that the rebel coalition’s ultimate objective is to topple autocratic President Bashar al-Assad.

Days after they overran Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, on November 30, the rebels marched on to Hama, another Assad regime stronghold, on December 5.  Following this, the rebels allegedly entered another Syrian city–Homs.

With the capture of Hama city, the rebels allegedly seized new military equipment from the Syrian military, including the S-75 air defense system and MiG-21 fighter jets.

Some of these have already been paraded as war trophies, with photos and videos surfacing on social media. As per claims swirling on X, at least four MiG-21, an L-39 Abatros fighter, an S-75 high-altitude air defense system, and about 40 trucks were captured from a military base near Hama on December 5.

Could not independently corroborate these claims.

However, it appears to be reminiscent of a similar episode in 2012, when rebels from the SNA and Jubhat Al-Nusra (predecessor of HTS) took control of a Syrian missile defense post close to Aleppo. Not long after the takeover, a video of the system was released, with the rebel leader Abu Hisham saying that they were S-75 surface-to-air missiles.

Earlier, the rebels claimed seizing multiple L-39s, MiG-23 fighters, a fully intact advanced Russian-built Podlet-K1 low-altitude surveillance radar system, Mi-8 helicopters, Pantsir S-1 anti-aircraft system, S-200 air defense system, T-72A tank, BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, BTR-80 armored personnel carrier, and more recently, the BM-30 Smerch Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), and an abandoned 9A310M1 Buk SAM launcher manufactured in Russia and equipped with a minimum of one surface-to-air missile, among other things.

Of all the war spoils, the S-75 is certainly among the most noteworthy. Once the world’s most popular air defense system, the S-75 has been deployed across several battlefields globally and has some incredible wins in its name. 

S-75 Dvina: A Nightmare For Enemies

The S-75 Dvina (NATO reporting name: SA-2) high-altitude air defense system was developed by the former Soviet Union in the 1950s.

The S-75 was originally developed as an answer to the US expediting the development and fielding of long-range nuclear bombers during the 1950s. It also started using aerial refueller aircraft that extended the range of these bombers to the Soviet Union.

The Soviet military needed an air defense system capable of taking down high-flying warplanes before they could launch strikes, so the S-75 Dvina was developed.

Its popularity started to soar after it was first deployed in 1957. The Soviet Union had developed this high-altitude air defense system with command guidance. The S-75 functioned as a component of a larger system rather than operating independently. It included a liquid-fuel second stage and a solid-fuel booster.

The S-75 Dvina is notorious for making several significant kills, which led to a surge in its popularity. In October 1957, the S-75 shot down a Taiwanese Martin RB-57 D Canberra over China, marking its first kill. This was a time of heightened tension between China and US-backed Taiwan.

The RB-57D was the first advanced aircraft capable of operating at high altitudes to be inducted by the Taiwanese Air Force. Taiwan started deploying aircraft to conduct deep penetrations of Chinese airspace, typically at elevations of 20,000 meters (65,616 feet) or higher.

To combat this menace, China acquired the S-75 from the Soviet Union and deployed it to combat the unwelcome guests. One fine day, when the aircraft was flying over China, it was hit by a salvo of three V-750 (1D) missiles at an altitude of 20 kilometers.

One of them struck the aircraft and led to its disintegration. Over the years, China brought down at least four U-2 aircraft that were secretly given to Taiwan by the US to glean intelligence during the Cold War era. 

However, the system registered its most iconic win on May 1, 1960, when it struck a US U-2 spy plane flying over the Soviet Union.

Gary Powers, a 30-year-old pilot, was flying an espionage mission over the Soviet Union at 70,000 feet. At that height, the plane was thought to be impervious to the enemy’s fighter jets and missiles. However, when he flew over the Russian city of Sverdlovsk, Power’s plane was struck by a volley of S-75 missiles.

Two years down the line, when the world was on the precipice of a nuclear war in 1962, the S-75 was deployed in Cuba. On October 27, 1962, it shot down another U-2 piloted by Rudolf Anderson over the island. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U-2 was tasked with photographing the build-up of Soviet nuclear missile sites in Cuba, which led to many of these aircraft being shot down.

The S-75 later played a very crucial role in Vietnam, where the South-aligned US forces sought to destroy the communist forces.

“North Vietnam began receiving SA-2s shortly after the start of Operation Rolling Thunder in the spring of 1965. With Soviet help, they built several well-camouflaged sites, regularly moving SA-2s and their equipment among them. The North Vietnamese also ringed SA-2 sites with anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), making them even more dangerous to attack,” according to the US Air Force.

In what became known as the Christmas bombing, the United States lost about 15 B-52s, the flagship of its fleet, during the enormous bombardment of Vietnam in 1972.

Six of these Stratofortresses were shot down in one day alone. By the war’s end, the S-75 had shot down several fighter jets and bombers. Moreover, as per some reports, several aircraft that were reported to have “crashed” by the US were actually taken down by the S-75.

After all these years, it is still a force to reckon with and is in active service with multiple countries decades after its debut. The S-75 was deployed by Egypt to the border with the Gaza Strip in 2024 as Israel was making final preparations to launch a military operation to strike Rafah, underscoring the utility of this archaic air defense system.

Its capture by Syrian rebels is, thus, every bit significant and worrisome, with Syrian and Russian Air Force frequently launching aerial strikes on rebels. The use of S-75 could potentially pose a massive threat to fighter jets operating in the region.

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