A detailed update on S-400, the gamechanging air defence system India bought from Russia
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India gets the powerful S-400 - What happens next
- The story: Russia has begun delivery of S-400 air defence system to India. India bought five of these from Russia in 2018 for nearly US$5.5 billion. The first unit will be operational by the end of 2021.
- CAATSA: America had warned India earlier that any such deal with invite sanctions under its domestic law, the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act). So, this acquisition by India has the potential to cause a diplomatic rupture between the US and India when the two countries are on a path to a tighter relationship. Admittedly though, it's not the Trump era but a Biden one, and maybe things play out differently.
- Story of S-400: It is said to be an advanced and potent air defence system. The S-400 Triumf has the capability to protect against almost all sorts of aerial attacks, including drones, missiles, rockets and even fighter jets. The system acts as a shield over a particular area, and is a long-range surface-to-air missile system.
- Named SA-21 Growler by NATO, and developed by Russia’s Almaz Central Design Bureau, S-400 can engage intruding aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles
- It has “surfaced as an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) asset designed to protect military, political, and economic assets from aerial attacks”.
- Each unit has two batteries, each of which has a command-and-control system, a surveillance radar, and engagement radar and four lunch trucks.
- Russia has been developing S-400 since 1993. Testing began in 1999- 2000 and Russia deployed it in 2007.
- American experts say the S-400 does not currently employ hit-to-kill ballistic missile defence technology.
- The system comes equipped with four types of missiles: short- range up to 40 km; medium-range up to 120 km; long-range 48N6 going as far as 250 km, and very-long-range 40N6E up to 400 km and a flight altitude of 180 km. It can simultaneously track up to 160 objects in a 600 km range, and target 72 objects in a 400 km range, according to a study.
- The works: S-400 detects an aerial threat approaching the air defence bubble (the area it has to protect), calculates the trajectory of the threat, and fires missiles to counter it. It has long-range surveillance radars that sends information to the command vehicle. On identifying the target, the command vehicle orders a missile launch. So in a way, it's like Israel's Iron Dome, used to protect against incoming rockets from Gaza. Only, S-400 has the capacity to protect a much larger area from threats that are much farther.
- Need of India: India needs to protect herself against attacks by missiles, or fighter jets from China or Pakistan. Observer Research Foundation mentioned that from the perspective of the Indian Air Force, “there is no alternative system capable of serving its long-range air defence requirements, from the standpoint of either capability or cost”. No Western systems can force the enemy airforce to stay constrained to their own airspace. The S-400 can be deployed within five minutes, compared to 25 minutes for Patriot (PAC-3). It has a speed of 4.8 km/s compared to 1.38 km/s. It is cheaper too, with a per-battery cost of approximately $500 million, compared to the Patriot’s $1 billion.
- Logistical details: India placed an order for five units in October 2018. Initially, the delivery was to begin within 24 months, but has been delayed for several reasons. The government told Parliament in July 2019, around the time when India paid Russia around $800 million as the first tranche, that the final deliveries of all units are likely to be done by April 2023.
- Global deployment: Several nations were interested, and Belarus requested it in 2007 and got the first delivery in 2016. Algeria bought it in 2014 and got the first unit in 2015. Turkey had placed an order with Russia in December 2017, and delivery began in July 2019. Egypt, Saudi Arabi and Qatar have also shown interest. China placed an order in March 2014, and the delivery began in 2018. During the standoff in eastern Ladakh, which began in May 2020 and remains unresolved, China had reportedly deployed its S-400 along the Line of Actual Control.
- US concerned: The US wants India to wean off its traditional reliance on Russian defence systems. Russia has been the largest defence partner for India over the decades, a relationship that is changing as India inches closer to the US diplomatically and strategically; imports from the US have gone up, largely at the cost of Russian imports.
- SIPRI's report in March said that while arms imports by India decreased by 33% between 2011–15 and 2016–20, Russia remained the largest supplier to India in 2011-15 and in the next half decade from 2016 -20. Russia’s deliveries dropped by 53 per cent between the two periods and its share of total Indian arms imports fell from 70 to 49 per cent. (SIPRI - Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
- In 2011–15 the USA was the second largest arms supplier to India, but in 2016–20 India’s arms imports from the USA were 46 per cent lower than in the previous five-year period, making the USA the fourth largest supplier to India in 2016–20.
- But the largr cause of concerns about the deal for Indo-American relationship lies in a 2017 law passed by the US named Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), whose objective is to counter American adversaries Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures. Title II of the Act deals with sanctions in Russian interests, including its defence industry. The Act empowers the US President to impose at least five of the 12 listed sanctions mentioned in Section 235 on persons who engage in a “significant transaction” with Russian defence and intelligence sectors. The US imposed sanctions on Turkey, a longstanding NATO ally, in December 2020 over its purchase of the system.
- In January, a US Congressional report warned that if India goes ahead with the purchase of the S-400 system, it may lead to sanctions.
- India’s External Affairs Ministry responded that “India and the US have a comprehensive global strategic partnership” and “India has a special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia”. India has always pursued an independent foreign policy. This also applies to our defence acquisitions and supplies which are guided by our national security interests.
- Summary: The issue remains unresolved, as on date. Now that the delivery has begun, it remains to be seen what action, if any, the US is willing to take, especially as it has made the Indo-Pacific its main area of focus to counter China’s rise.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) The US seems constrained in its ability and desire to take sanctions action against the Indian purchase of Russian S-400. Why? Analyse. (2) Explain the strategic reasons India has invested billions in the Russian S-400 systems.
#S-400 #Growler #Russia #Triumf #CAATSA #USA
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