India had signed an over Rs 35,000 crore contract with the Russian side in 2018-19 for five squadrons of S-400 missiles of which three have already arrived in the country but delivery of two is remaining

India activated three of its S-400 air defence missile squadrons along borders with China and Pakistan recently. Indian and Russian officials are also set to meet soon to discuss the final delivery schedule for the remaining two squadrons.

India had signed an over Rs 35,000 crore contract with the Russian side in 2018-19 for five squadrons of the S-400 missiles of which three have already arrived in the country but delivery of the remaining two was hindered due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“The three squadrons have already been operationalised in important sectors. While one unit is looking at both China and Pakistan, one each has been earmarked for China and Pakistan fronts,” defence sources told ANI.

“The deployment of the S-400 air defence system along with the planned indigenous system of DRDO will provide adequate protection to the vital areas and population centres close to the international border. We have many important areas close to the border which will be the target of the long-range missiles and would need to be prevented from ingress into our territory,” said Rudra Shriram – Defence and Homeland Committee, PHDCCI.

Meanwhile, the Russian and Indian officials would be soon meeting again to discuss the final delivery schedule of the remaining two missile squadrons. The Russian side needs to be more clear about the final delivery timelines as they are also busy with the conflict with Ukraine.

Some reports suggested that the Russians used the squadrons manufactured for the Indian Air Force for their utilisation. Still, nothing is confirmed and India is also focused only on getting its systems.

However, the Indian Defence Acquisition Council recently cleared the procurement of the Indian Long Range Surface Air Missile system under Project Kusha after the development project was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

The Indian Air Force is working with the DRDO to squeeze the delivery schedule of the LR-SAM. The three-layered long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) defence system would be able to strike down enemy aircraft and missiles at around 400 Km ranges.

The system would be ably complemented by the existing air defence systems, including the medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) of the three services which is already operational.