Russian state-owned arms maker Almaz-Antey has delivered its first S-400 Triumf long-range
air defense regiment in 2020 to the Russian armed forces ahead of schedule, the company
announced in a press statement.
The company press office quoted the CEO of Almaz-Antey, Yan Novikov, as saying, according
to TASS news agency, “We have delivered the first regiment set
of S-400 ‘Triumf’ systems this year to the state customer ahead of schedule.
The delivery/acceptance tests have passed successfully.”
The S-400 induction ceremony was held at the Kapustin Yar training range in the Astrakhan
Region.
Viewers may note that the Russian armed forces deployed over two dozen S-400 regiments with
on average of four new units entering service in past years.
In this video Defense Updates analyses how Russia is covering itself with an Iron curtain
using S 400 Air Defense System?
Let's gets started
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The Russian S-400 Triumf Air Defense System is considered to be the most advanced serially
produced air defense missile system in the world.
It is designed by Almaz Antey corporation which is a Russian state-owned company.
S 400 is one of the best examples of Russian prowess in arms technology.
Russian S 400 air defense is a package consisting of Radar, Command & Control center and Interceptor
missiles The standard S-400 battery consists of four
transporter erector launchers (TELs) with 4 large launch tubes for long-range missiles
or 16 smaller tubes for short-range missiles or a mixture of the two per TEL
An S 400 battalion also known as a division is made up of two batteries.
So, it can have a maximum of 32 missiles.
An S 400 regiment consists of two battalions.
So, it consists of 72 missiles at max.
The system has powerful hardware integrated with the 'state of art' software in the backend.
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 or around
370 miles.
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 is touted to have the ability to detect stealth aircraft.
All of these radars are very resistant to jamming.
S 400 deploys multiple missiles to cover its strike envelope.
1.
Short-range 9M96E (40 km or 25 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept targets having a speed up to Mach 2.6
2.
Medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km or 75 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept targets up to a speed of Mach 3
3.
Long-range 48N6 (250 km or 155 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept targets up to a speed of Mach 14
4.
Very-long-range 40N6 (400 km or 250 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the
capability to intercept targets up to a speed of Mach 14
The vertical launch enables missiles of S 400 to have a seamless 360-degree target envelop.
40N6 missile deserves a special mention.
The working of the missile is unlike a regular surface to air missile.
The missile is designed to reach very high altitudes and then hurl down to the target
from that altitude like a ballistic missile.
This gives it a different dimension : 1.
The 40N6 missile is potentially capable of exo-atmospheric interception of IRBM (Intermediate-Range
Ballistic missile) warheads in their terminal phase.
2.
The missile poses a real challenge to stealthy aircraft like F 22 Raptor, F 35 Lightning
II as well as B2 Spirit Bomber.
Since, the missile follows a ballistic trajectory so it’s active radar homing heads will be
illuminating the target aircraft from above at some angle, where the stealth shape of
the aircraft won’t be as effective as when being illuminated from under the airframe.
3.
Also, this missile will pick up speed on the dive like an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile), as opposed to regular missiles that loose speed in the final leg.
This will make it even harder to evade.
4.
The 40N6 is a large missile and is equipped with 300 meters radius fragmented blast warhead.
So, even if the missile doesn’t score a direct hit and has a near miss, the target
would still be destroyed.
A single regiment of S 400 can track hundreds of targets at a time, engage up to 36 targets
in parallel and simultaneously launch 72 missiles.
One of the best ways to judge the effectiveness of a weapon system is to examine how far other
nations are going to acquire it and if adversaries are concerned about its deployment in battle
spaces.
Here are 4 examples that need to be considered in this context
1.
Though China has a fairly sophisticated air defense weapons, it has still bough the S
400 from Russia 2.
On 5th Oct 2018, during India-Russia bilateral annual summit held in New Delhi, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi & Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized the deal of S 400.
India will get 5 regiments of S 400 and the contract is worth $5.5 Billion.
India didn’t back down from the deal even though it faces potential sanctions and risk
of worsening relations with the U.S 3.
Turkish President Erdogan was quoted by NTV as saying: "One S-400 is worth three Patriots.
If the conditions are even equal to the S-400 (deal), we would buy Patriots, but if they
are not, then we have to think of our interests.”
Turkey has not scrapped the S 400 deal even though it may face American sanctions as well
as has been expelled from the F 35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
4.
In 2013, Israel which posses one of the most well equipped and trained Air Force in the
world had asked Russia not to sell S 300 to the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Viewers may note, S 300 is much less capable than S 400.
The steady deployment of S 400 regiments means that Russia’s air space will be covered
by it to a good extent.
U.S Air Force, as well as American allies, have large fleets of 4th generation fighter
planes.
Some countries are using American fighters as is like Saudi Arabia, some have customized
versions like Japan & Israel whereas others have developed their own jets like France.
These jets were not designed to be stealthy and have fairly large Radar Cross Section
(RCS) which makes them very vulnerable to a potent Air Defense System like the S 400.
Technically S 400 makes large parts of the air fleet of not only the U.S but also of
its allies obsolete.
The U.S, & partner nations plan to acquire over 3,000 F-35s through 2035, which, if delivered
will make the F-35 one of the most numerous jet fighters.
The fighter aircraft will be in service till 2050.
F 35’s airframe is not as stealthy as found in the F 22 Raptor.
• Against x-band radars, it is only stealthy from front and rear;
• Against S-band radar, it is stealthy from the narrow front aspect,
• Against L-band radar, the limited reduction is achieved from direct front
It has a much greater reliance on radar-absorbing materials to maintain its stealth profile.
Given that S 400 is touted by Russia to be able to counter stealthy aircraft, if it is
able to detect or track F 35, it will be a major headache for America and its allies.
When it comes to the larger picture only F 22 and B2 Spirit which are possessed by the
U.S could potentially penetrate the Russian Iron Curtain.