India just bought a deadly Russian missile system

Mar 31, 2018 2:59 AM PDT

1 minute read

SUMMARY

While India’s home-grown defense projects, like the Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and the

While India's home-grown defense projects, like the Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and the Tejas multi-role fighter, have garnered attention, the Asian nation is also hard at work importing foreign systems. Their latest purchase comes from Russia, and it's a very lethal air-defense system.

Launch vehicle for the SA-21, which has a range of about 250 miles. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

India is close to finalizing a deal to purchase the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The S-400, also known as the SA-21 Growler, is an upgraded version of the SA-10 Grumble, and offers longer range. Some versions of this system can hit targets nearly 250 miles away.

India has also recently imported systems from Israel, including a purchase of 131 Barak surface-to-air missile systems, according to a report from Agence France Presse. The report did not state whether the purchase involved the baseline Barak, which has been retro-fitted on to a number of Indian warships, or the newer long-range Barak 8, slated for inclusion on Kolkata- and Visakhapatnam-class guided missile destroyers.

INS Kolkata entering Mombasa. (Indian Navy photo)

The sale of the SA-21 Growler to India might mean a closer look at the system for the United States. The U.S. has carried out a number of military exercises with India in the past, one of which allowed India's modified Kiev-class carrier, INS Vikramaditya, to face off against the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). In this faux fight, the Nimitz group was able to see what the MiG-29K Fulcrum could do.

This isn't the first time Russia and India have worked together — and likely won't be the last. Currently, the two countries have teamed up to develop a stealth fighter, called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft or Perspective Multi-Role Fighter, based on the Sukhoi Su-57 prototype. India has a history of modifying imported weapons systems, like the SEPECAT Jaguar and the MiG-27 Flogger, making them far more capable than the original. We'll have to wait and see if they have the same in mind for the SA-21 Growler.

Get more information about India's latest defense purchase purchase in the video below:

(New Update Defence | YouTube)