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| S-400 Triumf (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Catherine Putz
China will become the first foreign buyer of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
Russia may have just lifted its ban on supplying Iran with S-300s, but it has also reached a deal to supply China with the S-400 Triumf missile defense system. The S-400, an upgraded version of the S-300, had previously only been available to the Russian Ministry of Defense. China will be the first foreign buyer.
The S-400, which is manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007. The sophisticated air defense system is capable of firing three types of missiles, creating a layered defence, and can simultaneously engage 36 targets. The system is able to shoot down aircraft–manned and unmanned–and missiles–ballistic and cruise–within a range of 400 km (248.5 miles).
Last April, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved of the principle of selling the systems to China. As Zachary Keck wrote at the time:
Despite the ongoing talks, some had felt that Russia would ultimately refuse to sell China the S-400 surface-to-air missile system for a number of reasons. First, there were reports that Russia planned to withhold all foreign sales of the S-400 until Moscow’s own military needs had been satisfied, sometime later this decade. More importantly, there were widespread concerns in Russian military circles that China would purchase a few of the systems with the intent of stealing the technology and reverse engineering a domestic version.
It seems Russia has decided to go through with the deal despite these concerns. The details of the actual deal have not been revealed, but reports in November indicated that China “had signed a $3 billion contract for at least six S-400 divisions, which have about eight missile launchers each.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat