India Receives 3rd Squadron of S-400 Missile System from Russia, Likely to be Deployed Along Pak Border

India has received the third squadron of the S-400 air defence missile system as part of its deal with Russia, sources said.

The third squadron is part of a five-squadron deal that Russia has agreed to supply to India. The first squadron was received in December 2021 and the second one in April 2022.

Both squadrons have been strategically placed to guard borders and provide air defence against China and Pakistan.

The third squadron is likely to be deployed in either Punjab or Rajasthan to deal with potential attacks from Pakistan, sources said.

The S-400 system is capable of destroying targets ranging from drones to ballistic missiles at a distance of up to 400 km.

India has already operationalised its first two squadrons of missile systems. The first two squadrons have been deployed to take care of the Ladakh sector along with the sensitive Chicken’s neck corridor in West Bengal and the entire north-eastern region, ANI reported.

India has signed a deal worth over Rs 35,000 crore to acquire five squadrons of S-400 air defence missiles from Russia.

Why S-400 is Important for India?

The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. It is capable of simultaneously tracking numerous incoming objects including aircraft, missiles and UAVs in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

It has radars that can pick up an incoming object up to a distance of 1,000 kilometres, track several dozen incoming objects simultaneously, distribute the targets to missile systems and ensure a high success rate, a report in The Hindu said.

S-400 has been specifically designed to detect and destroy a range of targets including strategic bombers, aircraft used for electronic warfare, early warning, and reconnaissance; and even fighter jets such as F-16 and F-22.

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