Here is everything you need to know about the S-400 air defence system to be deployed in Punjab.
The Indian Air Force is deploying the first-ever squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in Punjab. This squadron will be capable of taking care of aerial threats from China and Pakistan.
The Indian Air Force is deploying the first-ever squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in Punjab. This squadron will be capable of taking care of aerial threats from China and Pakistan. The first squadron is deployed in the Punjab sector. The batteries of the first squadron would be capable of taking care of aerial threats from both China and Pakistan, the news agency ANI quoted government sources as saying. After the first squadron is deployed, the IAF will focus on the eastern border and allocate resources for training personnel within the country. Here is everything you need to know about the S-400 air defence system.
The S-400 missile defence system comprises four different aircraft that can engage enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and AWACS planes at short-range 40 km medium range 120 km 250 km and 400 km.
Parts of the Russian air-defence system started reaching India earlier this month, and the unit to be deployed in Punjab is expected to be operational in the next few weeks.
The first squadron deliveries are expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and this equipment will come to India via sea and land routes.
The S 400 entails complex military technology and comprises long-range surveillance radar that tracks flying objects and alerts the command vehicle, the command vehicle that evaluates the target and orders missile launch, engagement radar that leads the missile to the target, and the launch vehicle that fires surface-to-air missiles.
The $5.5 billion deal to purchase five long-range surface-to-air missile systems, which India needs to counter aerial threats from China, was signed in 2018.
The IAF will shift its focus on the eastern border and provide training personnel within the country soon after the first squadron is deployed. In Russia, Indian Air Force personnel have been trained on the system.
The S 400 is an upgraded version of the S 300, which was previously only available to Russian defence forces. It is manufactured by Almaz-Antey and has been in service since 2007 in Russia.
Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov said earlier this month that the US undermined the India-Russian deal on the S-400 defence system, adding that the US tried to coerce India to obey its orders, but India told them that it is a sovereign country to strengthen its defence system.
Russia supplied the S-400 air defence missile systems to India despite apprehensions of sanctions from the United States under a 2017 US law Countering America s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act CAATSA aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian hardware.
The US is unlikely to impose CAATSA sanctions on India for the S 400 deal New Delhi signed with Moscow. The US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated that the Biden administration values the US strategic partnership with India.
Co-chairs of a Senate India Caucus in the US John Cornyn and Mark Warner wrote in a letter to US President Joe Biden that they shared the administration's concerns about Russian maneuvering in the US elections, but they also warned of the damage to cooperation with India in the event of sanctions being imposed.
USIBC president Nisha Biswal had appealed against CAATSA sanctions on India for purchasing S-400 air defence missile systems. I understand the more awaiting factors of CAATSA and the concern of India's acquisition of the S 400 presence for the American defence establishment as the US-India becomes closer defence partners. Biswal said that S-400 has some challenges, but they have to be worked through by both governments but not the use of sanctions.