Ukrainian soldiers use Polish-made W-125 SC modernized SA-3 air defense missile system
According to a picture published on the Twitter account of "Ukraine Weapon Tracker", the Ukrainian army uses the Polish-made W-125 SC air defense missile system which is an improved version of the Soviet-made S-125 Neva, NATO code-named SA-3 Goa.
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The Polish-made W-125SC air defense missile system is used now by the Ukrainian soldiers. (Picture source Twitter account Ukraine Weapons Tracker)
To date, no official information has been released on the delivery of this air defense missile system, although only Poland is equipped with the W-125 SC. Knowing the need for the Ukrainian armed forces to have more anti-aircraft defense equipment and following the recent missile and drone attacks by Russian forces, Poland could have responded to Ukraine's request without official communication for security reasons.
The S-125 Neva NATO code-named SA-3 Goa is a Soviet-made medium-range air defense missile system that was developed in 1956. The missile is fired from trainable launchers which are normally fixed but can be relocated. The missiles are normally transported from battalion storage areas on modified ZIL-131 (6 x 6) or ZIL-157 (6 x 6) trucks and loaded onto the launchers. The S-125 system uses 2 different missile versions. The V-600 (or 5V24) had the smallest warhead with only 60 kg of High-Explosive which has a range of about 15 km. The 5V27 has a maximum firing range of 25 km.
The W-125 SC is an improved version of the Soviet-made S-125 that was developed by the Polish Wojskowe Zaklady Elektroniczne (WZE) according to the requirements of the Polish armed forces. The Polish Air Force received the first two modernized S-125 systems in 1999 and accepted the last in 2004.
The W-125 SC is based on the tracked chassis of the WZT-1, an armored recovery vehicle that is itself based on the Soviet-made T-55 Main Battle Tank (MBT). The tank chassis is fitted a launcher station armed with four ready-to-fire missiles 5V27U.
The W-125 SC also incorporates a new ZNO-X digital transmitter/receiver block developed by the Polish Przemyslowy Instytut Telekomunikacji (PIT) to replace the original magnetron-based hardware. The unit uses digital technology, including digital frequency synthesis, and has automatic built-in test facilities.
According to information provided by Poland's Ministry of National Defence (MND), the Newa-SC has 22 percent better detection and tracking ranges than the original Newa/Pechora system, and also has improved ECM (Electronic Counter-Measures) capabilities.
The missiles launched by the W-125 SC are able to intercept aerial targets at a maximum range of 20 km and an altitude from 25 m to 18 km.
A W-125 SC battery is designed to counter aerial threats flying at a speed of up to 700 m/s, at an altitude from 20 to 18,000 m, and a range from 3.5 to 25 km.
Soldiers of the 35th Air Defense Squadron (Polish army) demonstrate the loaded W125 launcher SC Anti-missile system’s mobility range during a demonstration for Soldiers assigned to A Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in support of Panther Assurance, an interoperability deployment readiness exercise, Jan. 14, 2016, at Skwierzyna, Poland.