
Russia to deliver remaining S-400 air defence system squadrons by 2026-27
on Thursday said that it will deliver the remaining two squadrons of the S-400 Triumf
surface-to-air missile systems
, which played a crucial role during
Operation Sindoor
against Pakistan amid military escalation last month, by 2026-27, TOI reported.
The delivery of the fourth and fifth squadrons of the
S-400 air defence
systems have been delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The matter was discussed during the bilateral meeting between Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh
and his Russian counterpart
Andrey Belousov
on the side-lines of the SCO defence ministers' meet at Qingdao in China, sources told TOI.
'We had insightful deliberations on boosting India-Russia defence ties,' Singh posted on social media platform X. Under the $5.43 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) deal singed in 2018, India was to get all the five squadrons by the end of 2023.
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Each S-400 squadron has two missile batteries with 128 missiles each, with interception ranges of 120, 200, 250 and 380-km, as well as long-range acquisition and engagement radars and all-terrain transporter-erector vehicles.
The Indian Air Force deployed the three S-400 squadrons in the north-west and east India to defend against threats posed by China and Pakistan.
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'As per Russia, the fourth squadron will now come next year, and the fifth in 2027,' TOI reported, quoting a source said.
During the cross-border exchanges with Pakistan from May 7-10, the neighbouring country had claimed it successfully bombed the Adampur air-base and destroyed a S-400 battery deployed there.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the air-base on May 13, and posed with an all-terrain transporter-erector-launcher vehicle of the S-400 system in the background to reject the claim.
The S-400 batteries can detect and destroy hostile strategic bombers, jets, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of 380-km. They constitute the outermost layer of India's integrated air defence system and is fully plugged into the IAF's integrated air command and control system (IACCS).
The DRDO, on its part, is also developing an air defence system with a 350-km interception range under the ambitious Project Kusha.
With the defence ministry in September 2023 approving the 'acceptance of necessity' for the procurement of five of its squadrons for the IAF at a cost of Rs 21,700 crore, India plans to operationally deploy this system by 2028-2029.
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