For the Cuban military, Soviet-made S-125 surface-to-air missile systems were reworked. A distinctive feature was the mounting of the systems on T-55 tank chassis to increase the mobility of the crews.
In photos of the systems online, it can be seen that the launcher carries four guide rails at once. Accordingly, it has four 5V27-series missiles with a maximum engagement range of up to 35 km at an altitude of up to 25 km.
However, analysts from the Telegram channel "Voennyi Osvedomitel" doubted that the T-55-based S-125 would prove effective in real combat.
Even a superbly modernized S-125 still no longer meets the requirements of the "backbone" of an air defense system, especially one that must counter aviation in 2026.
The complete replacement of vacuum tubes with microprocessors made it possible to integrate the launcher into modern air defense control systems. Thanks to the T-55 chassis, deployment time was significantly reduced compared with the stationary version — it required assembling the launchers on the ground. Preliminary reports indicate that Cuba has around 144 S-125 SAM systems in service.
Read more materials on the topic:
- Cheap and cheerful: half-century-old T-62 tanks were turned into "Terminators" with the "Berezok" module
- 70-year-old D-20 howitzers were converted into 152-mm self-propelled guns on a KamAZ-6550 chassis
- Russian fighters converted T-55, T-62, and T-72 tanks into APCs and IFVs
