The delivery of the third batch of S-400 air defense systems to India will be completed shortly. New Delhi announced its intention to purchase Russian-made S-400 air defense systems in 2015. A $5.43 billion contract on the delivery of five regiment sets of S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in October 2018. Russia state news agency TASS reported that CEO of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev earlier told journalists that the company was successfully implementing the contract on the delivery of S-400 air defense systems to India and all the five S-400 regiment sets would arrive in the country by the end of 2023.
“On S-400 I can say, the third part of supplies will be completed in the very near future. Next Steps in India-Russia Strategic Partnership” dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the friendship treaty signed between the two countries. Both sides have been committed to completion of the whole of the contract. We certainly will do that. Nothing prevents that,” the Russia’s Ambassador in New Delhi Denis Alipov said at the conference.
On 15 October 2016, India and Russia signed an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA) for the supply of five S-400 regiments to India. The $5.43 billion deal was formally signed on 5 October 2018, ignoring the threat of US sanctions. The deliveries are expected to commence by the end of 2020 and brought into service in October 2020. In March 2021, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin discussed India’s planned purchase of Russia’s S-400 air missile system and warned that the purchase of S-400 could trigger CAATSA sanctions. In November 2021, Russia stated that it had begun delivery of S-400 missiles to India and that deployment was proceeding as scheduled.
Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-and medium-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km under intensive enemy fire and jamming. One system comprising eight divizion (battalions) can control 72 launchers, with a maximum of 384 missiles (including missiles with a range of less than 250 km or 160 mi).
