Russia to deliver S-400 system by April, 2023: Shripad Naik

Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik on Wednesday said the deliveries of S-400 system from Russia will be made by April 2023.

“A contract had been signed on 5 October, 2018 for delivery of S-400 system from Russia. The deliveries are likely to be made by April, 2023,” Naik said while answering a question related to the S-400 in the Lok Sabha.

India signed an agreement with Russia last October to procure a batch of the S-400 missile defence systems at an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

The US has however been maintaining that New Delhi’s deal to procure the lethal missile system from Moscow will have “serious implications” on India-US defence ties.

On whether the US was putting pressure on India to scrap the deal, Naik said that the government takes sovereign decisions based on threat perception as well as operational and technological aspects to keep the armed forces in a state of readiness.

The US announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.

India believes that it meets the US waiver criteria for procuring the S-400 missile defence system from sanctions-hit Russia.

“When I think about the two issues (trade and S400), I think of them as real opportunities; things that I know we can work together and will provide a foundation for a relationship (between the two countries),” US Secretary of States Michael Pompeo had said on June 26 during his visit to India at a joint press conference held with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.