The S-400 Triumf is an air defense missile system that can engage “aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and ballistic and cruise missiles, within the range of 400km at an altitude of up to 30km. The system can simultaneously engage 36 targets.” It is in service in Russia, has been sold to Belarus, China, Turkey, and Algeria, and deployed to Syria.
The S-400 was in the news when the U.S. sanctioned NATO ally Turkey for buying the system. Starting in 2009, the U.S. and Turkey made several attempts to negotiate the sale of the competing Patriot air defense system, but in 2017 Turkey bought the S-400 instead. The Russian effort was no doubt helped by Putin’s support of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after the attempted coup in 2016, while the Americans remained silent. […]
India also bought the S-400 and was warned that this could trigger sanctions. (The system will be delivered in late 2021.)
The warning comes as the U.S. wants India to help contain China as part of the “Quad” – the coalition of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India. But India is also a longtime customer of Soviet and Russian equipment, and manufactures many Russian weapons under license. The U.S. wants India to shift from relying on Moscow to relying on Washington but India, in line with its heritage in the Non-Aligned Movement, probably prefers to rely on itself. Läs artikel