India to purchase S-400 missiles from Russia : All you need to know

Adding huge firepower to defence preparedness, India is set to get Russia’s approximately Rs 40,000 crore S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems. The S-400 Triumf missile system is one of the most formidable in the world, and it is widely believed that the US also fears it. The deal was announced in October 2016, though its finer details are yet to be worked out. Precontract preparations are underway, Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin has said.

S-400 Triumf is one of the world’s most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects – all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs – in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

The S-400 was developed as an upgrade of the S-300 series of surface-to-air missile systems.

The S-400 Triumph air defence system integrates a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and command and control centre.

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The S-400 air defence missile system uses four new missile types in addition to the missiles of the S-300PMU system.

The S-400 Triumph also launches 9M96E and 9M96E2 medium range ground-to-air missiles. Designed for direct impact, the missiles can strike fast moving targets such as fighter aircraft with a high hit probability.

The highly automated S-400 has radars that can pick up an incoming object up to a 1,000 kilometres away, track several dozen incoming objects simultaneously, distribute the targets to appropriate missile systems and ensure a high success rate.

It has been in service with the Russian Armed Forces since 2007.

The S-400 was described by The Economist in 2017 as “one of the best air-defence systems currently made.”

S-400’s comparable missile system, US made MIM-104 Patriot, is losing market to the Russian weapon system across the globe.

The S-400 is two-times more effective than previous Russian air defence systems and can be deployed within five minutes.