The term air defense is associated more with interceptor aircraft and missile and radar systems than tanks bristling with barrels. But the Shilka is the air defense system closest to the troops, having followed Soviet and Russian motorized infantry and tank battalions for five decades in which it also made its mark in ground engagements. There is a joke in the Russian military that air defense troops are failed pilots who donÂ’t like anyone else flying. But not even these zealous forces could keep the skies completely clear in the post-war period. Anti-aircraft weapons available in the 1950s were not...