India S-400 Acquisition - News Updates and Discussions

[WolfPack86]

INDIA TO CARRY OUT MAIDEN FIRING OF ITS RUSSIAN-ORIGIN S-400 AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM 'SOON'
New Delhi: Having already operationalised the first two squadrons of the long-range air defence system, the Indian Air Force is going to carry out the maiden firing of the S-400 missiles soon.


Senior defence officials told ANI that the Indian forces had carried out the firing of the Russian-origin missile system during trials in Russia but it is yet to be fired in the country.

"The firing is planned to be held very soon using one of the small or medium ranges missiles against a fast-moving aerial target," defence officials told ANI here.

The air defence missile system had a different range of missiles which can shoot down fast-moving fighter jets or cruise missiles at a maximum range of 400 kms, they said.

India has already put its first two missile system squadrons into service.

The first two squadrons have been deployed at different locations from where they can cover the Ladakh sector, as well as West Bengal's delicate Chicken's Neck Corridor.

The first squadron is in Punjab and its elements have been deployed in a manner in which they can look after the Pakistan border as well as in the northern and western sectors.

The system can engage enemy fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, ballistic and cruise missiles, and cruise missiles with a range of up to 400 kilometres.

India and Russia signed an over Rs 35,000 crore deal for five squadrons of S-400 air defence missiles, and all deliveries are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2023-24 but there may be a delay in this timeframe, the sources said.

The Indian Air Force, which recently received the indigenous MR-SAM and Akash missile systems as well as the Israeli Spyder quick reactions surface-to-air missile systems, believes the S-400 will be the game changer for it.

The Indian Air Force has significantly improved its air defence capabilities in recent years.

The S-400 missile systems have also participated in exercises, and according to sources, the adversaries have been alarmed by this because they are aware of the Indian system's superior capabilities to those of the Chinese system.

Presently, the S-400 air defence systems of China and India are each stationed along the Line of Actual Control.

India To Carry Out Maiden Firing of Its Russian-Origin S-400 Air Defence System 'Soon'

New Delhi: Having already operationalised the first two squadrons of the long-range air defence system, the Indian Air Force is going to ca...

www.indiandefensenews.in

 

[WolfPack86]

India cut back Russia arms but not technology transfer.

 

[Blademaster]

India cut back Russia arms but not technology transfer.

What makes you think that Russia would go along with technology transfer? They didn’t do it with tanks, semi-cyro engines, or Su-30s and only did it on a limited scale with Brahmos based on old technology which forced India to upgrade the seeker on its own.

 

[WolfPack86]

Russia likely to agree to deliver 4th S-400 Regiment to India – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

Russia agree to deliver 4 th S 400 regiment to India.

 

[Fatalis]

 

[WolfPack86]

PAYMENT CRISIS LEADS TO UNCERTAINTY OVER INDIA-RUSSIA DEFENCE DEALS
Major defence deals with Russia, especially the S-400 deal, which have already seen delays due to the war in Ukraine continue to face uncertainty with no clarity on the revised schedule as efforts to resolve the payment crisis haven’t fructified so far. Currently payments of around $3 billion are held up and the central banks are working to resolve this, two official sources independently said.

Three of the five S-400 regiments contracted under a $5.43 billion deal in 2018 have been delivered but the other two are delayed and there is no clarity on the revised schedule, multiple sources confirmed. While the two sides have been trying to settle payments through a Rupee-Rouble arrangement, it has failed to solve the crisis due to the huge trade imbalance and Rupees accumulating on the Russian side. The revised delivery schedule can be worked out once there is clarity on the payment schedule, one of them said.

Delivery of the two Krivak or Talwar-class stealth frigates under construction for the Indian Navy in Russia are further delayed and now expected to be delivered by May and October 2024, according to Alexey Rakhmanov, Director-General of United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia. Acknowledging that payment has been an issue, on two other frigates under construction at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) under the same deal, he said the delivery schedule will be fixed according to the payment schedule. As per the original schedule, GSL was scheduled to deliver the first ship in 2026 and the second one six months later.

With Russia being shut out of the global SWIFT system for money transfers after February 2022, India and Russia chose the Rupee-Rouble route to settle payments which was extensively discussed between the central banks of the two countries. While small payments have been resumed, larger payments are still stuck, with several big-ticket deals in the pipeline.

Some deliveries have been done despite payments being held up, and now there has to be a way out before further deliveries can be done, one of the sources cited above stated. In addition, there is unnecessary apprehension among companies and traders on sanctions, which is preventing trade from expanding, the sources said adding that the Reserve Bank of India needs to step in to clear the apprehensions so bilateral trade can increase. Officials conceded that there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to resolve this and no single measure would be sufficient.

On similar lines, in February, Russian envoy in India Denis Alipov said that the Vostro accounts have been opened and the mechanism of Rupee-Rouble trade has been established and it is now a matter for the banks to use it while terming that many Indian banks are “over cautious” for fear of any secondary sanctions from the U.S.

In a related move, early August, one of Russia’s largest banks, VTB, started opening accounts in Rupees, and Anatoly Penchatnikov, deputy chairman of the board of VTB said that the bank has expanded the list of currencies available to retail customers and now they can open an account and make exchange in Rupees.

Officials also dismissed speculations of possible use of Yuan, noting that even in the oil purchase by one of the public sector companies reported recently, the Chinese currency was used only for one transaction.

S-400 Deal

India had contracted five S-400 regiments under a $5.43 billion deal, or ₹40,291 crore as per conversation rate of ₹74.2 against the Dollar when it was signed in October 2018. Even then, its operationalisation got delayed as the sides sought to avoid payments in dollars as possible threat of U.S. sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) loomed large. The Ukraine war has further compounded the problem. The ‘milestone payments’ which are periodic payments made against deliveries have been delayed, as reported earlier.

In July 2019, the government said in a written reply in the Parliament that S-400 deliveries are “likely to be made by April 2023”. At the beginning of this year, officials said that deliveries are expected to be completed by year-end or early 2024, and would not be further delayed.

As per a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence tabled in March this year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) informed the committee that there is a “major project” where the “deliveries have been stopped because of the war going on.” “We had a major delivery in this year, which is not going to take place. They have given us in writing that they are not able to deliver it. That is why the major part of projection has been reduced,” an IAF representative informed the committee while appraising them regarding the sharp decline in Budget Estimates this year as compared to the last year’s projection. Official sources had confirmed that the IAF was referring to the S-400 deal.

As per the revised Budget Estimates of 2022-23 too, the IAF had returned close to ₹2,370 crore which is part of committed liabilities but could not be completed.

For instance, from 2018 to 2021 the defence trade between India and Russia was worth around $15 billion as several big-ticket deals were concluded including S-400, stealth frigates, AK-203 assault rifles and emergency procurements in the backdrop of the Balakot air strike in 2019 and the 2020 stand-off with China in Eastern Ladakh.

Payment Crisis Leads To Uncertainty Over India-Russia Defence Deals

Deliveries of S-400 regiments for the IAF and Talwar-class frigates are among those facing delays as efforts to resolve the payment crisis h...

www.indiandefensenews.in

 

[Fatalis]

https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/iaf-activates-three-s-400-missile-units-on-the-china-pak-border-meeting-with-russian-officials-soon-to-discuss-final-delivery-schedule20231030202758/

 

[NoobWannaLearn]

Delivery ho gai kia last unit ki?

 

[NoobWannaLearn]

Delivery ho gai kia last unit ki?

2026

https://aninews.in/news/world/asia/russia-to-deliver-last-two-squadrons-of-s-400-air-defence-missiles-by-202620240320192200/

 

[Azaad]

2026

https://aninews.in/news/world/asia/russia-to-deliver-last-two-squadrons-of-s-400-air-defence-missiles-by-202620240320192200/

It means either Russia's at the end of its tether as far as mfg goes especially of the S-400 systems or the Chinese have leaned on them to postpone those deliveries to a date as late as possible or both.

 

[NoobWannaLearn]

It means either Russia's at the end of its tether as far as mfg goes especially of the S-400 systems or the Chinese have leaned on them to postpone those deliveries to a date as late as possible or both.

Naa probably has to do with them fullfiling their own needs first

 

[Azaad]

Naa probably has to do with them fullfiling their own needs first

Yes that's precisely what I meant by being at the end of their tether as far as mfg goes especially of the S-400 system as they previously claimed & it was no less a person than their foreign minister Sergei Lavrov IIRC who barely 2 yrs ago claimed Russia would honor its commitments in a timely manner .

 

[NoobWannaLearn]

Yes that's precisely what I meant by being at the end of their tether as far as mfg goes especially of the S-400 system as they previously claimed & it was no less a person than their foreign minister Sergei Lavrov IIRC who barely 2 yrs ago claimed Russia would honor its commitments in a timely manner .

Russia and their commitments hopefully this is the last deal with Adidas boys