Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi & Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized the deal
of S 400 Triumf Air Defense on 5th Oct, during India-Russia bilateral annual summit held
in New Delhi.
The contract is worth 5.5 Billion USD and India will get 5 regiments of S 400.
The delivery is expected to start in the next 2 years.
S 400 will massively argument India’s capacity to counter Pakistan’s Air Force.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why India's Russian made S 400 will render Pakistani
Air Force useless?
Let's get in the details.
S 400 can track 300 targets at a time, engage up to 36 targets in parallel and simultaneously
launch 72 missiles.
The system has powerful hardware integrated with 'state of art' software platform.
S 400 uses multiple radars depending on threat perception.
The primary one is either the 91N6E Big Bird Acquisition and Battle Management Radar or
92N6E Grave Stone Multimode Engagement Radar These have a range of around 600 km.
The main radar is complimented by target acquisition radars like 67N6 Gamma De and 9N6 Protivnik
GE radars in L band, Nebo SVU in the Very High-Frequency band and Nebo m & Zebu M in multiband.
Nebo SVU & Zebu M have claimed capability against stealth aircraft.
The radars are very resistant to jamming.
S 400 deploys multiple missiles to cover its strike envelope.
1. Short-range 9M96E (40 km) with an active radar homing head having a speed of Mach 2.6
2. Medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km) with an active radar homing head having a speed of Mach 3
3. Long-range 48N6 (250 km) with an active radar homing head having a speed of Mach 14
4. Very-long-range 40N6 (400 km) with an active radar homing head having a speed of Mach 14
Hence, these missiles are not only guided by radars of S 400 but also have own active
and semi-active radar homing capability enabling them to keep chasing fast & maneuvering targets
till the last moment.
Another interesting point is that S 400 to be provided to India is more potent than the
one exported to China, as the Chinese system lacks the Very-long-range 40N6 missile.
S 400 vertical launch enables its missiles to have seamless 360-degree target envelop.
It is so potent that it can interpret targets flying at up to Mach 14.
As evident S 400 is a very capable system and is rightly considered to be a game changer
by many military experts.
The capacity of the platform can be judged from the fact that even Israel which has one
of the most advanced air force in the world had made high-level requests to Russia not
to provide S 300 to Syria.
Viewers may note that S 300 is a generation old platform compared to S 400.
Pakistan’s air force consists of a mix of several different types of fighters, some
EW aircraft, several AWACS and diverse array of UAV.
The most potent of the fighters is the American made F 16 and has around 80 of these.
The PAF has added around 100 JF-17 Thunder which is developed in coordination with China.
The F 16’s that Pakistan posses are fairly old and doesn't incorporate the latest components.
JF 17 though recently acquired is designed for affordability and lacks 'state of art’
sensors or avionics.
None of these jets were designed to be stealthy and have large Radar Cross Section (RCS) which
makes them very vulnerable to a potent Air Defense System like the S 400.
The jets will not be able to avoid detection and once detected they will have no way to
'outrun' or 'outmaneuver' the missile launched by S 400.
Pakistan at this point is in no position to acquire 5th generation fighters as it is in
massive debt and seeking loans from external sources like International’s Monetary Fund
(IMF) to keep its economy afloat.
India may choose to deploy 2 of its 5 regiments along the Indo-Pak border.
In this case, almost the entire Pakistan will be under the scanning envelop of S 400 and
a major part will be within its striking range.
That will mean Pakistani aircraft will be tracked as soon as they take to the air.
This has massive tactical implications going forward, as Pakistan's Air Force will not
be in any position to launch a surprise attack on India.
Having an element of surprise is key to winning wars, and this will be taken away from Pakistan.
Also, India will be in a position to take down Pakistani aircraft within Pakistani airspace,
if required.
Clearly, deployment of S 400 will tilt the tactical balance heavily in India’s favor
vis-à-vis Pakistani Air Force.