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At least three NATO members have been using Russian air missile defense systems over the years, even as the U.S. steps up pressure on Turkey and India to withdraw from their own purchases of such hardware.
Axar.az reports citing AA that, with India having inked a deal with Moscow in October 2018 following wide-ranging talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to buy S-400 missile defense systems, deliveries are scheduled to commence in October 2020 and to be completed by April 2023. Turkey, which began negotiations for the purchase in 2017, is likely to receive its first batch over the next two months.
With NATO ally Turkey, Washington's main objection to the planned deployment of Russian systems is that they would not be compatible with NATO equipment and would pose a threat to the U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets, of which Turkey is a prospective buyer and partner in development and production.
Russia has so far sold the earlier version of the S-300 system to some 20 countries, including the NATO member countries such as Bulgaria, Greece and Slovakia. The S-300 missiles are currently an integrated part of the air defenses of Greece -- a NATO nation -- and have also been deployed in Greek Cyprus.
Experts believe that NATO forces and their jets are exposed to radar systems deployed in Greece as much as they could be from the missile shield deployed in Turkey. It is believed that the U.S. itself had purchased an S-300 air defense system in 1994 from Belarus. The New York Times reported however that this was meant to examine the system, to modernize its own Patriot air defense shield.
The S-400 Triumf missile system was developed by Russia's Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 model and carry surface-to-air missiles capable of targeting a variety of aircraft from distances ranging from 40 to 400 kilometers (250 to 25 miles). It is described as the best air-defense system in the world at present.
The earlier version of the S-400 system uses identical radar system is currently in the possession of 17 countries including Greece, Slovakia and Bulgaria -- all U.S. allies. Ukraine, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Georgia, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also have the S-300.
Date
2019.06.12 / 12:23
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Author
Axar.az
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