Were the S-75 family as game-breaking as the S-300 family is reputed to be or did they became iconic as THE SAM due to being the first tangible threat for western jets?
Just wiki'd it:
>During the Vietnam war, the Soviet Union delivered 95 S-75 systems and 7,658 missiles to the Vietnamese. 6,806 missiles were launched or removed by outdating. In total, the U.S lost 3,374 aircraft in combat. According to the Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 6 missiles per one kill);
> 6 missiles per one kill
>against manned aircraft
Isn't that better than the Patriot's kill ratio against Scuds?
Also the US seems to had way too many aircraft losses for a pre-UAV war.