NEW DELHI, January 12. /TASS/. Indian deliveries of the third squadron of the S-400 Triumf missile systems from Russia are currently underway, the Times of India reported on Thursday.
"Initial deliveries of the third operational squadron of the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems from Russia <…> have now begun after some delay," sources told the Indian newspaper.
Amid Western sanctions on Russia, India is grappling with alternate payment mechanisms for new deliveries of Russian weapons and their maintenance, "but it’s being managed," a source told the newspaper.
By the end of this year, India is slated to get five S-400 squadrons.
In 2015, India announced its intention to buy the Russian air defense systems. A $5.43 billion contract to deliver five S-400 squadrons was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in October 2018.
Russia’s S-400 ‘Triumf’ is the latest long-and medium-range surface-to-air missile system. It is designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft (including stealth jets) and can hit any other air targets in conditions of radio-electronic countermeasures and firing.