Operation Sindoor Boost: India Awaits S-400, Orders Missiles and Sukhoi Fighters

An

S-400 air-defence system will arrive here in the coming weeks, with an Indian Air Force (IAF) Pre-delivery Inspection Team (PIT) already in Russia for the last ten days. The team, comprising several officers, are there for a final look at the systems in different cities before it’s shipped here. The S-400 deliveries are late, but the fifth and final system is also expected this year, perhaps in November. After the S-400’s impressive performance during Operation Sindoor, the four days of fighting with Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack last year, India has decided to buy five more systems. The S-400 could be part of the countrywide air defence system, Sudarshan Chakra, that will be in place in coming years.

India is also negotiating a Rs 10,000 crore deal for 280 missiles for the S-400. The 280 will replace the ones utilised during Operation Sindoor. The negotiations are in the RFP or Request for Purchase stage. The missiles could arrive later this year or early next year. Similarly, the IAF has order some Brahmos cruise missiles — an Indo-Russian production. The Brahmos, with a range of at least 300 km, was effective during Operation Sindoor and some are coming as part of the emergency purchases allowed by the defence ministry.

Sukhoi-30 material arrivesA dozen “New material kits” for a dozen Sukhoi-30 fighters have just arrived from Russia. This is the basic material from which Hindustan Aeronautics makes the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter in Nasik which the IAF should get from the year-end. Highly placed government sources said that HAL will supply 13 Sukhoi-MKI fighters to the IAF. The Sukhoi-30MKI is the IAF’s mainstay and the 270-odd fighters will remain so till the 114 Rafales begin to arrive. At the moment India has only two Rafale squadrons. But the 13 Sukhois will be particularly useful as the IAF is seriously short of fighters.