India S-400: India will receive the last two regiments of the S-400 Triumf air defence system from Russia by 2026, staying on track with the original delivery plan. This update comes after the successful delivery of the first three units, which are already placed along the borders shared with Pakistan and China. Roman Babushkin, the deputy Russian ambassador to India, confirmed the news and said the systems will arrive on time, even though there have been global problems like the Russia-Ukraine conflict that caused earlier delays.
S-400’s Role in Strengthening India’s Defence
India signed the S-400 deal with Russia in 2018 for $5.43 billion. The first unit came in December 2021, the second in April 2022, and the third in October 2023. These units have already been used in real situations. During Operation Sindoor, when India had rising tensions with Pakistan, the S-400 helped by shooting down enemy drones and missiles. This showed how powerful and useful the system is during real attacks. Babushkin said the system did its job well and proved how much India needs it to protect the skies.
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“A contract has been signed on October 5, 2018, for delivery of the S-400 system from Russia. The deliveries are likely to be made by April 2023,” Minister of State (Defence) Shripad Naik said in 2019. He was replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, reported by Indian Express
The S-400, also called “Sudarshan Chakra” in India, can find and hit many kinds of threats from the air, like fighter jets, missiles, and drones. It can track things up to 600 kilometers away and shoot them down from a range of up to 400 kilometers. Each regiment has two batteries with four launchers. Together, they can fire 32 missiles. The system can follow up to 300 targets at once. It also uses four different missiles 40N6, 48N6, 9M96E, and 9M96E2 which can hit targets flying low or high, even at 40,000 feet.
Although the war in Ukraine slowed things down earlier, Russia has promised India that the final systems will be delivered without delay. Shripad Naik, India’s Minister of State for Defence, had earlier said in Parliament that the full delivery was expected by April 2023. Even though that didn’t happen exactly on time, Russia has now given assurance that the deal will be complete by 2026.
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Russia and India have always had strong defence ties. The S-400 deal is another sign of their close partnership. Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov also said that both countries are still talking about sending more S-400 units in the future. But he said it’s too early to give full details.
