Profile
- Type
- Long-range surface-to-air missile system
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Origin
- Soviet Union / Slovakia donor transfer to Ukraine
- Service note
- Cold War design still in wartime service
Air Defense
S-300
The S-300 is a Soviet-designed long-range surface-to-air missile family used by Ukraine for area air defense during the Russia-Ukraine War. Its mobile launchers, radars, and command elements give Ukrainian forces a legacy but still important way to contest aircraft, drones, cruise missiles, and some ballistic-missile threats while newer Western systems enter service.
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Built in
- Soviet UnionRussia
Service History
- In service
- 1978-present
- Used by
- Ukrainian Air Force, Slovak Air Force
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War
Production History
- Designer
- Almaz Central Design Bureau
- Designed
- Development began in 1967 for the S-300P family
- Built in
- Soviet UnionRussia
- Produced
- S-300P family production began in the 1970s; later variants and refurbished export systems followed
- Variants
- S-300P, S-300PS, S-300PMU, S-300PMU1, S-300PMU2, S-300V
Specifications
- Role
- Mobile, ground-based long-range SAM system for area air defense
- Missiles
- 5V55K, 5V55R, 48N6 and later family missiles depending on variant
- Range
- S-300P sources cite up to 150 km with 48N6; S-300PMU2 references cite up to 200 km
- Warhead
- High-explosive fragmentation warheads, about 133-143 kg on S-300P missile types cited by CSIS
- Launcher
- 9P85-series TELs typically carry four ready-to-fire missile canisters
- Mobility
- Mobile ground system using truck or trailer launchers with associated command and radar vehicles
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Ukraine
Operated by Ukrainian air-defense forces as a long-range Soviet-designed SAM family, with Slovakia transferring an S-300 system to Ukraine in April 2022 to reinforce defenses against Russia's invasion.
S-300 Images
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S-300Publisher: CSIS Missile Threat | Note: Supports S-300 family background, origin, service status, role, missile types, launchers, and core S-300P specifications. | Accessed: 2026-06-19S-300 PMU2 SA-20B Gargoyle BPublisher: Army Recognition | Note: Supports additional open-source S-300PMU2 variant specifications, including range, launcher, missile, radar, and guidance details. | Accessed: 2026-06-19Slovakia to Supply S-300 Air Defense System to UkrainePublisher: U.S. Department of War | Note: Directly supports the Russia-Ukraine War context for Slovakia supplying an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine in April 2022. | Accessed: 2026-06-19UA S-300 firing.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a Ukrainian S-300 launch image attributed to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and listed under CC BY 4.0. | Accessed: 2026-06-19