The Su-15 held numerous world records for height and speed, and for many years was a primary interceptor within the IA-PVO E 207 which was (like many interceptor types) never exported to any Soviet client states. It's raw performance attributes in terms of acceleration and altitude E 208 tipified the Soviet design philosophy of developing aircraft to uncompromising specifications at the expense of range, avionics and payload. It E 209 relied heavily on GCI (ground control intercept radars) to guide it to it's target as it's powerplants would guzzle fuel at an alarming rate and so had limited E 210 loiter/search capabilities; exacerbated by the inability of the radar to provide adequate search range. The type was made infamous for E 211 shooting down a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 (Flight 007) on 1 September, 1983 over Sakhalin Island killing 269 onboard after the airliner strayed E 212 off-course and into Soviet airspace. It was removed completely from service by the end of the decade, being replaced by fourth generation types.