NEW DELHI, September 29. /TASS/. India is considering enhancing its air defense capabilities by acquiring additional Russian-made S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems or next-generation S-500 Prometei missile launchers, ThePrint newspaper reported, citing India’s government sources.
The need for more Russian-made S-400 air defense systems can be explained by their high effectiveness, which they demonstrated during Operation Sindoor against terrorist targets in Pakistan in May this year. India also plans to acquire the latest Russian S-500 surface-to-air missile systems, the sources said.
"The S-400 performed very well in Operation Sindoor, and has a huge deterrence and punitive capability. Yes, we are looking at procuring more of the same. or the S-500," a source said.
The contract signed between Moscow and New Delhi in 2018 for five battalions of S-400 air defense systems includes a follow-up clause for an additional five S-400s. The follow-up clause stipulates that more systems can be purchased at the same price adjusted for inflation and exchange rate changes.
India has already received some S-400s from Russia and expects to get the remaining two missile systems within 12 months, the paper said.
Russian S-400 air defense systems
India signed a $5.43 billion deal in 2018 to purchase five battalions of Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. India deployed the first S-400 missile system acquired from Russia in the state of Punjab, along the border with Pakistan.
After the terrorist attack in the tourist town of Pahalgam in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking terrorist-related targets in Pakistan. The operation involved Russian-made military equipment operational in the Indian army.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said later that the country’s air defenses, strengthened by the Russian-made S-400 missile system, had been a decisive factor in that operation. He then visited Adampur Air Force base in the northwestern state of Punjab, where he took a photo against the background of the S-400 air defense system.
The S-500 Prometei air defense system, produced by the Almaz-Antey Group, is designed to engage all current and future aerospace attack weapons of a potential enemy across the entire range of altitudes and speeds.
On September 2, Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said that Russia and India could broaden their cooperation through additional deliveries of Russian-made S-400 missile systems to New Delhi. He said that the two countries were at the negotiation stage.