S-400 missile system, Kamov copter deals still some way off

NEW DELHI: Belying hopes that defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman would ink the deals to buy S-400 missile systems and the state-of-the-art Kamov helicopters from Russia during her ongoing visit, the minister’s talks with the her Russian counterpart General Sergey Shoygu and industry and trade minister Denis Manturov in Moscow only progressed to the extent of agreeing to expedite negotiations for the military platforms.

India is particularly keen on the S-400 Triumf air defence system — one of the most lethal military systems to have come out of the Russian armoury in recent times and touted as a game-changer platform.

India is expected to buy five S-400 systems, the delivery of which will be completed in 54 months time on the deal being inked.

The S-400 can counter the complete range of airborne threats, including bombers, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at a range of up to 600 km and up to 30 km altitude and a capacity to engage up to 36 targets at one time.

Defence ministry officials here said that during the talks, both sides also agreed to further ramp up bilateral defence cooperation. Ms Sitharaman is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the VII Moscow conference on international security.

While historically India and Russia have cherished close military ties with Russia accounting for almost 60 percent of India’s defence exports, India has griped about the delays in procuring critical spares and equipment from Russia.

India has been pressing Russia to adopt a liberal approach in sharing technology for components of major defence platforms as it was critical to keep them in operational readiness.

Besides India, four more countries — China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — are keen to acquire the S-400. Another deal that is eagerly awaited is to jointly manufacture about 200 light weight multi-role Kamov 226T helicopters to replace India’s ageing Cheetah and Chetak copters.