In 2018, India had inked a $ 5.2 billion deal with Russia to purchase five systems of this missile

According to the Indian Air Force (IAF) these missile systems are going to be the backbone of the service’s air defence (AD) system and Moscow will train officers and ground staff for operating the system.

Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit as a chief guest to Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia on Wednesday confirmed the delivery of S-400 Triumf advanced air defence missile system from Russia will start in 2023. Also, a new payment route has been formalised – rupee-rouble payment mode has been formalised.

Responding to questions related to the delivery and the mode of payment for the missile system, Roman Babushkin, Minister-Counsellor, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Russia, New Delhi said, “The delivery of S-400 will start in 2023 as per the contract which was inked in 2018. The mode of payment will be in Indian currency.”

Babushkin said that “We need to find ways to eliminate dependency on US dollar. The US dollar is distrusted worldwide.”

Another diplomat in the embassy explained that India’s main bank will transfer payment for S-400 missile system in Rupees to the state-owned Russian Sberbank. The bank’s branch in New Delhi will transfer the Indian rupee as rouble to its Headquarter in Moscow.

As has been reported by Financial Express Online, both India and Russia have decided on this mode of payment to ensure that there is no delay in the delivery of the missile system to India. According to highly placed sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) the five regiments of the S-400 Triumf is likely to be deployed in the National Capital Region and along the Mumbai-Baroda Industrial Corridor.

According to the Indian Air Force (IAF) these missile systems are going to be the backbone of the service’s air defence (AD) system and Moscow will train officers and ground staff for operating the system.

S-400 Missile System

In 2018, India had inked a $5.2 billion deal with Russia to purchase five systems of this missile.

Despite strong opposition from the US and sanctions imposed on Russia, India was able to sign the deal when the Russian President Vladimir Putin had visited India for the annual summit. The Trump administration has imposed sanctions against Russia — Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) law. This restricts military purchases from Russia.

NATO refers to this missile system as the SA-21 ‘Growler’.

The S-400 system has four types of missiles. The range varies from 40 km, 100 km, 200-km and 400 km. This helps in forming a nearly impenetrable interlocking grid of missiles.

According to Russia this missile can destroy and detect targets which could be flying as low as 100 feet to as high as 40,000 feet.

The entire system can be readied to fire within a few minutes
The missiles and launchers are mounted on cross-country trucks
The S-400 has 92N6E electronically-steered phased array radar, which is capable of tracking around 300 targets over an area 600 kilometres away
They have the capability to address multiple aerial threats and are resistant to electronic jamming