India’s delivery order of the S-400 Missile Defence System from Russia is maintaining its timeline. India has made a further payment of $850 mn – 15% of the total. The first Defence System is expected to be delivered by October 2020.
Crux of the Matter
In October 2018, India had signed a deal with Russia regarding the delivery of the S-400 Defence Systems for worth $5.4 billion. The entire system is expected to be delivered in 5 years period.
India has been under constant pressure from Washington regarding the deal. It is concerned that the S-400 system might gather electronic signature and data of US military equipments used by India.
Similarly, the US had threated Turkey with sanctions if it went ahead with the purchase of the S-400 systems from Russia.
Amidst concerns from the USA, India and Russia used a special mechanism for the transaction to avoid sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) of the US.
External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar said that India is in a position to waive US sanctions for the S-400 deal and that bilateral ties with Russia cannot be compromised.
Curiopedia
The S-400 Triumph is an anti-aircraft weapon system developed in the 1990s by Russia’s Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. According to Siemon Wezeman Senior Researcher of SIPRI the S-400 “is among the most advanced air defence systems available”. The S-400 is able to intercept cruise missiles out to a range of about 40 km due to their low altitude flight paths. Read More
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