Within a period of just 15 years Soviet air defenses progressed from AA guns and piston engine fighters to SAMs and missile-armed Mach 2 interceptors. This is the story of how this remarkable progress was achieved and how these assets performed in actual combat against foreign aircraft violating Soviet air space.

Krzysztof Dabrowski from Poland has a lifelong interest in the subject of military aviation, and has written dozens of articles on a variety of related subjects for printed magazines and the ACIG.org/ACIG.info, AeroHisto and The Boresight websites. His particular area of interest is the air warfare during the Cold War, the aircraft involved, and the experiences of their crews. This is his first instalment for Helion.