An Indian Air Force team has arrived in Russia to evaluate a fourth S-400 system for India, which is expected to arrive by the end of April and be installed in the Western region, persons familiar with the situation said on Monday. The fifth S-400 system is expected to be deployed by November of this year, they added, only days after the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved five more Russian-origin S-400 Triumf air defense systems.
The fourth unit of the air defence system is expected to be deployed in Rajasthan. The additional air defense systems will boost the total number of S-400 units in India to ten. In 2018, the country ordered five units from Russia as part of a government-to-government arrangement.
Following the DAC’s approval, all steps toward a government-to-government agreement for the new systems are expected to be completed within a year, according to the authorities listed above. To maintain stringent control, India’s defence acquisition procedure is structured as a chain of approvals.
It starts with a statement of case, which describes the operational demand and justification for buying. The proposal is next reviewed by the Defense Procurement Board, which is chaired by the Defense Secretary. It then proceeds to the DAC for acceptance of need. Once this is resolved, detailed cost talks with the vendor are carried out, followed by financial permission from the competent authority. The ultimate approval is given by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
The Indian Air Force earlier advocated for the procurement of five additional S-400 systems from Russia, as well as the Pantsir short-range system. The Russian missile system is effective against both armed and kamikaze drones. The S-400 and Pantsir missile systems can be combined to form a two-layer defense system capable of intercepting airborne targets fired from across the border.
During Operation Sindoor in May 2025, the Indian armed forces made heavy use of the air defence system to down Pakistani fighter aircraft, early warning and intelligence collection aircraft, and armed drones. According to HT, when India attacked a wide-bodied aircraft within Punjab in Pakistan at a distance of 314km with an S-400 long-range missile, Rawalpindi effectively transferred all of its operational aircraft to airbases in the west near Afghanistan and Iran.
With India assaulting Pakistani radar installations in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Pasrur, the Pakistani air force was unable to respond on May 9-10 due to concerns about the S-400 system deployed in the Adampur and Bhuj sectors.
