S‑400 deal delays: Russia's anti-aircraft sale to India under scrutiny

Deliveries of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft systems to India have been delayed for many years, yet – despite the problems – the Russian defence sector can speak of success. The agreement related to the servicing and production of S-400 parts in India is one such success.

As a result of the war in Ukraine, Russian arms exports are decreasing, and Moscow is losing many of its traditional clients who have been buying Russian weapons for decades. One such country is India, which – in part – has turned away from Russian armaments in favour of Western systems.

This does not apply, however, to the S-400 anti-aircraft system. The deal for its sale by Russia was signed back in 2019, and the delivery schedule has been postponed multiple times.

Despite this, both parties have agreed to transfer technology to India, establish service centres in the country, and start the production of certain S-400 components.

This gives Moscow not only short-term commercial benefits but also creates an alternative source in India for the components necessary for servicing and producing the anti-aircraft system. Besides the S-400, India manufactures, among other things, Russian T-90 tanks, Su-30 aeroplanes, and BrahMos anti-ship missiles, an evolution of the Russian P-800 Oniks.

The S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft system was developed in the 1990s as a successor to the older S-300 (practically, the S-400 is an evolution of the S-300PMU), maintaining partial backward compatibility and the ability to use older missiles.

According to Russian sources, the S-400 can combat not only aircraft and cruise missiles but also intercontinental ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight. The range of the S-400 is said to vary – depending on the target and the missile used – from nearly 400 kilometres to just 40 kilometres.

The S-400 system has achieved several export successes. Besides Russia, it is also operated by Algeria, Belarus, China, India, and Turkey. In the case of Turkey, the purchase of the S-400 turned out to be a hindrance to the sale of F-35 aircraft to Turkey.

The war in Ukraine has assessed the capabilities of the S-400 system, which was previously rated very highly, even by Western analysts. Contrary to Russian propaganda claims, the S-400 has proven powerless against modern Western missiles.

It is incapable of effectively defending protected targets and unable to defend itself. S-400 launchers have repeatedly fallen victim to, among others, ATACMS missiles fired from HIMARS launchers, and one spectacular video depicts the flight of Storm Shadow missiles directly over a Russian launcher.

The system's ineffectiveness against modern Western weapons was also confirmed by the war in Syria, where, assuming the use of Israeli F-35I Adir aircraft, Russian systems were immediately turned off to avoid destruction.