India to take delivery of first Russian S-400 air defense missile system at the end of this year
According to information released by the Russian press agency TASS on October 6, 2021, the first Russian-made S-400 (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) air defense missile systems will be delivered to India at the end of the year, Indian Air Force Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari said.
“The delivery of S-400 systems is on schedule. I hope that the first batch will be made operational this year,” The Hindu newspaper quoted Chaudhari as saying.
New Delhi announced its plans to purchase S-400 systems in 2015. In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defense missile systems during a visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India.
In comparison to its predecessor S-300, the S-400 sports an upgraded radar system and a software update that enables it to fire new types of missiles. The S-400 can fire four different types of missiles including the short-range 9M96E with a range of 40 km, medium-range 9M96E2 with a range of 120 km, long-range 48N6 with a range of 250 km, and the very long-range 40N6E with a range of 400 km.