🇺🇦
Ukrainian S-200C Ulan (Lancer) 🇺🇦 Update:
Well, it has been a very long time coming but here we are at last...
Fact:
When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence inherited 13, and perhaps as many as 16, S-200, long-range, air defence batteries along with a multitude of other conventional and nuclear weapon systems. Indeed, overnight, Ukraine found itself as the world’s third largest nuclear power.
In 1994, under the terms of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine transferred its inherited Soviet nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for security assurances and economic aid from Russia, the US and UK.
In response to its military and economic situation, and the difficulty in maintaining an aging, 1960s piece of technology, the number of active S-200 batteries had dropped to 4 by 2010 and eventually, in 2013, the system was phased out entirely.
At much the same time, and for much the same reason, Ukraine also phased out its Scud missile arsenal between 2010-11, with the dismantling of approximately 200 9K72 Scud missiles being a joint project with the US.
Consequently, when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and then launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine found itself with no Operational or Strategic level weapon systems, no tactical ballistic missiles and no long-range air defence.
However, unlike their Scud missiles which had been physically dismantled, the canny Ukrainians had kept their remaining S-200 batteries in storage along with an undisclosed number of missiles. When war broke out, every effort was made to bring the 4 batteries back into active service – a process that was aided by their friends and neighbours – Poland supplied a full battery with at least 20 upgraded missiles and Bulgaria supplied an undisclosed number of missiles. In January 2024, the audacious Ukrainians used their S-200 systems to engage and destroy a Russian A-50U long-range radar aircraft and to seriously damage an Il-22 command and control aircraft. The following month, a second A-50 was engaged and also destroyed and, in April of that year, a Tu-22M long-range bomber was shot down at the very impressive range of 300Km.
Ever resourceful, the Ukrainian MoD also looked towards its aging S-200 arsenal to make up for the lack of a tactical-range, ground-to-ground missile system. After all, if the S-200 missile could engage and destroy a moving target at 300Km, then the same missile if fired ballistically might reasonably achieve a range of 600-800Km.
A fortunate side effect of the S-200’s age was that it was built big (at 7,018Kg [15,472lb] it is not small) to accommodate the necessary 1960s radar and guidance technology and a sizeable warhead. With the ground attack role not requiring much of the missile’s specialised AD capability, all of the redundant gubbins could be stripped out and a smaller GPS guidance system and larger HE blast warhead installed. Furthermore, with no need to track and illuminate the target with the large Square Pair radar, ground attack missions could be undertaken with a welcomed degree of surprise. Whilst much still remains classified, it would seem that the S-200 has been used in the ground-to-ground role to attack targets in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, Crimea and even the Kerch bridge. Although the Kerch bridge attack proved unsuccessful, so concerned were the Russians that they closed it to all traffic for over a week.
Fiction:
In conceiving this build project, I had initially wanted to make a mobile version of the S-200 in its air defence role in order to free up the Ukrainians from the limitations of the fixed nature of the large system. However, that very size became my undoing – the missile is big (10.764m [35.315ft]) and, as previously mentioned, a tad over 7 tons in weight – consequently, its launcher turntable is also big and the whole thing proved impossible to realistically mount on a MAZ-543 prime mover – what I had to hand. Of course, whilst a mobile version of the S-200 would be huge, it would pale into insignificance when compared to vehicle needed to carry the 30-ton Square Pair target tracking and illumination radar!
Plan B then evolved into the far more realistic S-200C Ulan (Lancer). The S-200 in its GPS-guided, ground attack role has proved to be extremely accurate and, with a range (classified) but likely in the 600-800km ballpark, extremely capable. Indeed, its only significant limitation is that it currently fires from the same fixed sites that the air defence variant operates from or at best an improvised launch site that likely takes days, if not weeks, to build and collapse. A mobile Transporter, Erector and Launcher (TEL) would dramatically increase the tactical usage of the missile’s impressive ground-to-ground capabilities allowing the launch to take place closer to the front lines in order to maximise the missile’s range whilst also allowing the TEL to shoot and scoot with minimal change of counter battery reprisals.
With the demise of Ukraine’s Scud systems in their entirety, I envisaged Poland being intimately involved in the Ulan project – essentially, building the TEL from their own stocks of MAZ-543 trucks and retired S-200 launchers. With no need for the Ulan to track potential targets, that element of the S-200 launcher was removed leaving only the launch rail elevation system. Four hydraulic stabilisers were added as even in its reduced ground-attack mode the S-200 is still big. With its GPS target information pre-loaded into the missile, the Ulan can infiltrate into its intended launch location, park up pointing in the general direction of the target, lower its stabilisers, lower the missile transport cradle, conduct its pre-launch checks, raise the launch rail, lower the umbilical, fire, lower the launch rail, raise the stabilisers and be exfiltrating the area before the hapless Russians know what the hell is happening. Hoorah!
The model depicts Ulan TEL ‘63’ of the Ukrainian Army’s 1st Battalion, 5th Surface to Surface Missile Brigade and comprises adapted parts from a Dragon Scud B model, a Trumpeter S-200 (SAM SA-5 ‘Gammon’) model, some self-designed 3D prints, a bucket load of plastic/styrene card, Hataka Modern Polish Army paints and some Star decals. Great fun but painting the whole thing with a hairy stick (at least3 coats) and attaching the almost 150 decals on the missile almost did for me!
References: Wikipedia, Defense Express, Forbes and Army Recognition
Transport configuration:
Pre-firing configuration:
Firing configuration:
