S-400 air defence system to be deployed in Punjab; here's all you need to know

The Indian Air Force is deploying the first-ever squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system in Punjab. This squadron will be capable of taking care of aerial threats from China and Pakistan. “The first squadron is being deployed in the Punjab sector. The batteries of the first squadron would be capable of taking care of aerial threats from both Pakistan and China,” news agency ANI quoted government sources as saying. After the first squadron is deployed, the IAF will focus on the eastern border and allocating resources for training personnel within the country.

Here’s all you need to know about S- 400 air defence system

• The S-400 missile defence system comprises four different aircraft that can engage enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and AWACS planes at short-range (40 km), medium range (120 km), 250 km and 400 km. 
• Parts of the Russian air-defence system started reaching India earlier this month and the unit to be deployed in Punjab is expected to be operationalised in the next few weeks.
• The first squadron deliveries are expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and this equipment will come to India via sea and land routes.
• The S-400 entails complex military technology and comprises long-range surveillance radar which tracks flying objects and alerts the command vehicle; the command vehicle which evaluates target and orders missile launch; engagement radar which guides the missile to the target; and the launch vehicle which fires surface-to-air missiles.
• The $5.5 billion deal to procure five long-range surface-to-air missile systems, which India needs to counter aerial threats from China, was signed in 2018.
• Soon after the first squadron is deployed, the IAF will shift its focus on the eastern border and providing resources for training personnel within the country. Indian Air Force personnel have also been trained on the system in Russia.
• The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 and was previously available only to the Russian defence forces. It is manufactured by Almaz-Antey and has been in service in Russia since 2007.
• Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov said earlier this month that the US undermined the India-Russia deal on S-400 defence system, adding that the US tried to coerce India to “obey its orders” but India told them that it’s a sovereign country to bolster its defence system.
• Russia began supplying the S-400 air defence missile systems to India despite apprehensions of sanctions from the United States under a 2017 US law – Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian hardware.
• The US is unlikely to impose CAATSA sanctions on India for the S-400 deal that New Delhi signed with Moscow. US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price asserted that the Biden administration values US’ “strategic partnership” with India.
• Co-chairs of a Senate India Caucus in the US John Cornyn and Mark Warner wrote in a letter to US President Joe Biden that they shared the administration’s concerns about Russian maneuvering in the US elections but they also warned of the damage to cooperation with India in case sanctions were to be imposed.
• USIBC president Nisha Biswal had also appealed against imposing CAATSA sanctions on India for purchasing S-400 air defence missile systems. “I understand the more awaiting factors of CAATSA and the concern that India’s procurement of the S-400 presence for the American defence establishment because as US-India becomes closer defence partners. S-400 plays some challenges, those are the challenges that I think need to be worked through by both governments but not the use of sanctions,” Biswal said.

(With agency inputs)

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