India set to get S-400 Triumf air defence missiles, deal with Russia may be inked by 2018-end

New Delhi: India and Russia are likely to sign the agreement to supply the S-400 Triumf (NATO code: SA-21 Growler) air defence missile by the end of 2018. According to Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation chief Dmitry Shugayev the two countries have agreed on the main aspects of the S-400 Triumf missile system and it is just a matter of time before the deal is inked.

"We are fully ready to sign this contract. Its foundation was laid, and almost all aspects were coordinated. We plan to sign this contract before the end of this year," Dmitry Shugayev told Rossiya 24 television channel on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharam, too, had in July 2018 said that India will go ahead with the S-400  missile deal with Russia despite reservations expressed by the United States of America. India and Russia are likely to formalise the agreement during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in October 2018.

Sitharaman had pointed out that US sanctions against Russia under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) did not affect India and there was nothing to worry about because they were not imposed by the United Nations. The Defence Acquisition Council had on July 2, 2018, cleared the purchase of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

Only July 24, 2018, a US Congressional committee had proposed waivers for some countries like India from punitive sanctions against those doing business with Russia's defence industry.

The state-of-art S-400 Triumf air defence missile, which is much more advanced and lethal than any western system, has been in service with the Russian armed forces since 2007.

The S-400 Triumf missiles can travel at a rate of 4.8 kilometres per second (17,000 km/h; Mach 14). The system can fire the following missiles - 48N6DM/48N6E3 (range 250km), 40N6 (range 400km, maximum altitude 185 km), 9M96E (range 40 km, maximum altitude 20 km) and 9M96E2 (range 120km, maximum altitude 30 km). At present, the S-400 Triumf system employs missiles which use a 143-kilogramme high-explosive fragmentation to kill the incoming aerial threat.

But another missile 77N6 is under development which will have the hit-to-kill capability like the US Patriot air defence system. While the current system can destroy missiles as well as aircraft and drones, the 77N6 will be specifically deployed to target the ballistic missile threat