Russia and India have signed a contract on supplies of S-400 air defense systems to India

October 5, 2018: The S-400 Triumf air defence system deal, inked by India and Russia Friday[October 5, 2018] notwithstanding the US pressure of sanctions, can engage up to 36 targets at a time and simultaneously launch 72 missiles.

Cost:- $5bn (£3.8bn)

The signing of the deal assumes significance as China, too, has signed a deal with Russia to procure the same missile system. However, the deal comes under the purview of Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act 2017 (CAATSA), which targets Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Manufacturer: JSC NPO Almaz .”The system designed to engage in all types of aerial targets including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 400km, at an altitude of up to 30km.”

Command and control
The 55K6E command and control system of the S-400 Triumph is based on the Ural-532301 mobile command post vehicle. The command post is equipped with LCD consoles to process the air space surveillance data of the individual batteries. It controls and monitors long-range surveillance radar, tracks airborne threats, prioritises the threats, and coordinates other batteries.

The system is also capable of exchanging data with other defence systems such as SA-12, SA-23, and S-300.

Radars

The fire control and target tracking radar of the S-400 is the 92N6E (NATO Codename: Gravestone). The radar is based on the MZKT-7930 8×8 vehicle. The 96L6 Cheese Board 3D surveillance and tracking radar is optionally carried by the same vehicle when the S-400 battery is deployed autonomously.

The 91N6E Big Bird acquisition and battle management radar of the S-400 is based on the 8×8 trailer. The radar can detect and track aircraft, rotorcraft, cruise missiles, guided missiles, drones and ballistic rockets within the distance of 600km. It can simultaneously track up to 300 targets.

Launch vehicle

The SP85TE2 launchers are based on the BAZ-64022 6×6 tractor truck or MAZ-79100 series Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicle. The TEL vehicle can carry up to four launch tubes holding a mix of missiles.

The S-400 system has following technical characteristics:

1. target detection range up to 600 kilometers (372.8 miles);
2. number of simultaneously tracked targets up to 300;
3. maximum speed of targets 4,800 meters per second;
4. number of simultaneously shelled targets up to 36;
5. number of simultaneously guided missiles up to 72;
6. striking range for the aerodynamic target from 3 to 250 kilometers;
7. altitude of the set aerodynamic target from 10 meters to 27 kilometers;
8.  striking range for tactical ballistic targets from 5 to 60 kilometers;
9. altitude of the set ballistic target from 2 to 27 kilometers;
10.  speed on hard-surface roads up to 60 kilometers per hour, on unsurfaced roads up to 40 kilometers per hour and on cross-country terrain up to 25 kilometers per hour;
11.  deployment time after a march 5 minutes;
12. time before full combat readiness after deployment 3 minutes;
13. time between major overhauls 10,000 hours;
14. service life at least 20 years of ground facilities and 15 years of surface-to-air missiles;
15. number of simultaneously shelled targets by one air defense missile system up to 6.

Other facts: Turkey also makes a deal to buy Russian-made S-400 air defense system [ Turkey is part of NATO]