NEW DELHI: If fighters like Rafale are meant to take the war to the enemy, the S-400 batteries are designed to prevent the enemy from bringing it to your shores by erecting a defensive shield that can detect, track and destroy hostile strategic bombers, jets, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of 380 km.
India’s move to ink the $5.43 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) deal for five advanced S-400
Triumf surface-to-air missile squadrons from Russia on Friday, despite the looming threat of US sanctions, underlines its resolve to bolster air defence coverage along the unresolved borders with China and Pakistan.
The resolve became stronger after China began inducting six S-400 batteries in January under a $3 billion deal inked with Russia in 2014. The US last month imposed financial sanctions on China for its S-400 deal but India is hopeful of getting a waiver from the Trump administration.
“S-400 is critical for our national security. In terms of configuration, our S-400 will be better than what China is getting. The highly automated and mobile S-400 systems, with four different kinds of missiles with interception ranges from 150 km to 380 km, will change the dynamics of air defence in our region,” a source said.
India will pay only 15% (Rs 6,000 crore) to Russia as the first instalment, with the rest being linked to deliveries. IAF is slated to get the first S-400 missile squadron in 24 months, with its associated battle-management system of command posts and launchers, long-range acquisition and engagement radars, and all-terrain transporter-erector-launcher vehicles. All five squadrons, with two firing units each, will come in 54 months, as was first reported by TOI.
The S-400s, with their huge ‘area denial capabilities’, are as much of a game-changer as the Rs 59,000 crore procurement of 36 Rafale fighters from France, which has run into a political dogfight between BJP and Congress. “S-400 is certainly more formidable than the US Patriot or any such air defence system around the globe,” the source said.
If deployed near the border with Pakistan, an S-400 battery can shoot down a hostile F-16 fighter or cruise missile much before it comes anywhere near Indian airspace during hostilities. “S-400 can even take out intermediate range ballistic missiles with a velocity of 4,800 metres per second. It will be crucial in providing multi-layered defence for cities like Delhi,” the source said.
Russia contends the S-400, designated the ‘SA-21 Growler’ by NATO, can even “radar lock and shoot down” 5th-Gen stealth fighters like American F-35 jets. It’s no wonder the US is dead against proliferation of the S-400s, and has tasked its latest F-22A ‘Raptors’ and other top-notch weapons with defeating the Russian system in case of a conflict.
TOI was the first to report in October 2015 that India had kicked off plans to acquire the
S-400 missile system, and that the Cabinet Committee on Security on September 26 had cleared the deal for inking ahead of the Modi-Putin summit on Friday.
The S-400 contract is among the largest-ever defence deals inked with Russia. The other big deals include the ones for 272 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters (over $12 billion) and INS Vikramaditya.
Reuters Photo
