Recently, the Indian Air Force acquired the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile defense system developed by Almaz Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering of Russia. The Russians call it the “Triumf.”
The NATO code name for the system is Growler. Ever since the Modi government assumed office, India has been on a weapons buying spree starting from Rafale fighter aircraft from France to C-17 Globemaster from America and missile systems from Israel.
The purchase of S-400 from Russia assumes significance in the light of CAATSA sanctions imposed by America on sale of Russian weapons. CAATSA came into force after being passed by the American Senate on 27 July, 2017.
The Americans have used CAATSA sanctions against their own NATO ally Turkey for purchasing the S-400 from the Russians. Treaty allies have higher accountability, and so America imposed sanctions on Turkey. India is a strategic partner of USA but not an ally.
Nevertheless, there is the possibility of sanctions being imposed on us. America’s antipathy towards Russia has increased over the years, especially after the Russian takeover of Crimea.
The expensive weapon system costs around US$ 5.2 billion. It has both tactical as well as strategic applications. It is capable of stopping ballistic missiles also. It is comparable with the American THAAD system.
It is considered to be the best system in its category in the world. All the international defence journals including those published in the western world acknowledge that it is the best air defense missile system and almost unbeatable.
The S-400 missile system comprises of four components. The first is a long-range 91N6E surveillance radar with a very high transmitting power, which can detect up to 300 targets at a time with a panoramic range of 600 km.
It also has protection against jammers. The second component is a command vehicle which acts as a command and control center. Its main job is to identify targets either as a friend or foe. The third component is a 926E engagement radar.
It is a multifunctional radar with a range of up to 400 km. The last and the fourth component is the launch vehicle carrying missile launching silos from which missiles are fired to take out incoming air-borne enemy missiles or combat planes or UAVs.
The missiles in the launchers are of four different types namely short-range (up to 40 km), medium-range (up to 120 km), long-range (up to 250 km) and very long-range (up to 400 km).
The long-range surveillance radar tracks objects in the air and passes on the information to the command vehicle which carries out further assessment to decide whether the flying object is a friend or a foe. Once that decision is made, it passes on the information to the launchers which launch the missiles towards the target.
Once the missiles are launched, the engagement radar guides the missiles in their trajectory by identifying the flight path of the incoming enemy target. Thus the S-400 system can shoot down incoming cruise missiles, guided missiles, inter-continental ballistic missiles, stealth fighter aircrafts as well as drones and other objects.
The reason why America was dead against India purchasing the system is because of the outstanding capability of S-400 as it is the most advanced air-defense system available today in the world.
In fact, America does not want any other country to buy this system. The S-400 can sense even stealth aircraft which puts American fighters like F-22 Raptor, the B-2 bomber and the F-35 stealth fighter at risk of being taken out by the S-400. This neutralizes the edge that America has over its adversaries.
The entire NATO air defense systems stands to become ineffective in front of S-400. This was the major reason why Turkey was taken out of the F-35 program after it purchased the S-400 form Russia. Around 13 countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Vietnam and Iraq are interested in buying the S-400.
If they do so, nobody will be interested in buying American fighter jets anymore. Moreover, the intelligence gathering that America used to indulge in using its stealth aircrafts and drones cannot be continued as they will become easy targets for the S-400.
It is this intelligence gathering capacity that gives America an edge over its adversaries. That advantage will be severely hit and completely blunted thus making America vulnerable to attack from its adversaries.
When it comes to sanctioning India, America has to be very cautious as it could end up hurting American interest itself as India is its most effective partner for countering China. The QUAD is a manifestation of this thinking.
So, India might just be able to escape American sanctions on this issue while being able to strengthen its air defense against China. This becomes a classic example of having the cake and eating it too.
EDITED AND PROOFREAD BY NIKITA SHARMA
