A S-400 air defence missile system. (Screengrab/Sputnik/YouTube)India today signed a nearly $5.43 billion deal with Russia for the purchase of the S-400 Triumf air defence system, the Times of India has reported.
The deal was signed in New Delhi after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in India for the for the two-day annual India-Russia bilateral summit.
The system is capable of tracking and destroying aerial targets such as aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Here’s a video of the S-400 system being tested in Russia:
The system uses four different missiles – the very long range 40N6E-series (400 km), the long range 48N6 (250 km), the 9M96e2 (120 km) and the short range 9m96e (40 km) – to eliminate incoming enemy targets.
Patriot system used by the US and its allies, in comparison, has just one missile with a range of 96 km to destroy incoming threats.
China has also contracted for the system from Russia and is reported to have started taking deliveries of it. According to Sputnik International, it is also likely to test the system soon. The portal says at least 10 countries, including Turkey and Qatar, are considering procuring the air defence systems.
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