India eyes Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile system

In what would certainly be a game-changer in the regional power equations, India is planning to acquire the new-generation Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems that is capable of destroying incoming hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 400-km.

Reports quoting defence ministry sources said the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by Manohar Parrikar, will "soon" take up the proposal moved by the IAF to purchase around a dozen S-400 long-range systems from Russia.

"The project is at an initial stage at present. But it will be a government-to-government contract when it is finalised, with the S-400 systems being inducted over several years," the defence ministry source was quoted as saying.

The S-400 is a new generation anti-aircraft system, which can be equipped with very long-range missiles (up to 400km), long-range (250km) and medium-range (120km).

The S-400 Triumf is capable of countering all air attack weapons, including tactical and strategic aircraft, ballistic missiles and hypersonic targets such as the US F-35 fighter jet.

The S-400 can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously with as many as 72 missiles at altitudes of five meters to 30 km.

India is likely to purchase 10-12 S-400s, which rivals the anti-ballistic missile capabilities of the US Patriot PAC-3 system and is designated `SA-21 Growler' by NATO.

China is also slated to get the S-400 batteries from 2017 onwards, a big worry for countries locked in territorial disputes with China in the East and South China Seas, ranging from Japan and Taiwan to Vietnam and the Philippines.

Along with the ongoing induction of the indigenous 25-km range Akash area defence system has come as a major relief for them the S-400s will be a major force multiplier for the Army and the Air Force .

Induction of the Israeli Spyder low-level quick-reaction missile systems, with a 15-km range, is now planned from 2016-2017 onwards.

The project was stuck since the Tatra trucks - on which the missile systems were to be mounted - had got enmeshed in corruption scandals. The contract was recently amended to replace the Tatra trucks with Tata trucks.

Deliveries of the medium-range SAM systems jointly developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries and DRDO, with an interception range of 70-km, will also begin from 2016-2017.

Along with induction of these weapons, IAF is also now expanding its fully-automated surveillance network called IACCS (integrated air command and control system) to the entire country, with the cabinet committee on security recently approving another Rs8,000 crore for the project. Eventually, the Army and Navy's Akash Teer and Triguna air defence networks will be integrated with the IACCS.