Russia says remaining two S-400 squadrons will be delivered by 2026-27

NEW DELHI: Russia on Thursday assured India it will deliver the two remaining squadrons of the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems , which played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan last month, by 2026-27.

The delivery of the fourth and fifth squadrons of the S-400 air defence systems, which has been hugely delayed due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, figured in 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 `X’. Under the $5.43 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) contract inked with Russia in 2018, India was slated to get all the five squadrons by end-2023.

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 IAF has deployed the first three S-400 squadrons in north-west and east India to cater for both China and Pakistan. “As per Russia, the fourth squadron will now come next year, and the fifth in 2027,” a source said.

During the intense cross-border hostilities with Pakistan from May 7 to 10, Pakistan had claimed it successfully bombed the Adampur air-base and destroyed a S-400 battery deployed there.

But PM 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, which can detect and destroy hostile strategic bombers, jets, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of 380-km, 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 Sept 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, as was first reported by TOI.