Three Fingers of Death

The story of one of the most successful air defense missile systems in history and eyewitness accounts from those who fought with and against this system.

Perhaps no weapon ever produced had so many historical impacts in modern warfare, such as surface-to-air missiles produced in the Soviet Union. Originally designed to provide defense of the Soviet Union from attacks by American bombers during the Cold War, the first Soviet surface-to-air missiles decisively influenced the sequence of events, when they shot down the American U-2 reconnaissance airplanes over the USSR and Cuba. Soviet surface-to-air missiles were delivered to North Vietnam and played a significant role in the defense of North Vietnam inflicting a heavy toll upon US forces. A new generation of a mobile surface-to-air missiles during the October War of 1973 was a big surprise for the Israeli air force, which suffered considerable losses from these missiles. To this day, surface-to-air missiles manufactured in the Soviet Union and Russia are the backbone of the air defense for many countries. It is not surprising that a large number
of surface-to-air missiles are still in use today, including the 2K12 Kub-M (SA6-6 Gainful) self-propelled missile system.

Sergei Korolev conducted the first Soviet experiments with surface-to-air missiles before the outbreak of World War II. However, his further work on these experiments was cut short, due to the purges which brought Korolev to a gulag, under the accusation that he was undermining the Soviet government. During the war, the Red Army used unguided rockets nicknamed 'Katyusha' (officially designated as BM-13 Guards Mortar). One of the experiments with 'Katyusha' rockets was as barrage anti-aircraft missiles. After the great victory in World War II, Stalin ordered the German designers to be released and to form mixed teams for the production of ground-to-air missiles based on German technology, headed by Soviet designers. Soviet designer Isaiev led a team to develop a Soviet liquid-fueled rocket motor whose technology was based on the Germ