.: Tony McGoldrick's 1/35 Trumpeter SAM SA2 Missile
Developed in the mid-1950s, the V-750 Dvina was the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile. The Soviets used it to shoot down Gary Powers' U-2 over the USSR in 1960 and Maj. Rudolph Anderson's U-2 over Cuba in 1962. The missile was better known by the NATO designation SA-2 Guideline. The Soviets began exporting it to many countries worldwide in 1960, with many remaining in use into the 21st century.
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.
