NEW DELHI: India is to get the remaining two regiments of the S-400 strategic air defence missile system from Russia in 2026.
A source in the defence establishment said, "India will be receiving the fourth and fifth regiment of the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system from Russia in February 2026 and August 2026, respectively."
The missile performed well in Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, intercepting Pakistani drones and missiles. There are talks ongoing for additional batteries of the missile system.
The $5.43 billion contract for five regiments was inked in 2018. Three are already deployed along the western and northern fronts, bordering Pakistan and China, respectively.
India had received the first regiment in December 2021, while the second and third were delivered in April 2022 and October 2023, respectively.
After induction, it was re-christened as "Sudarshan Chakra".
Going by information shared by the Indian government, the acquisition was to be completed by 2023.
"A contract has been signed on October 5, 2018, for delivery of the S-400 system from Russia. The deliveries are likely to be made by April 2023," Minister of State (Defence) Shripad Naik said in 2019. He was replying to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The TNIE reported earlier that the S-400 system's delivery schedule got delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict which affected supply chains and production.
Each regiment includes two batteries with four launchers, capable of firing 32 missiles, and can track targets up to 600-km and engage them at 400-km.
It can also neutralize aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, with four missile types (40N6, 48N6, 9M96E, 9M96E2) covering various ranges and altitudes.
Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov recently confirmed the prospect of supplying more S-400 units, and said, "Our discussions on this topic are ongoing and continuous, but it would be premature to comment on the results at this stage."
The missile can track 300 targets at 600 km and can deploy four different kinds of missiles engaging the targets at varying distances. The system is capable of destroying aircraft, missiles (cruise and ballistic), UAVs and other air assault vehicles up to 400 kilometres from a range of 100 feet to 40,000 feet.