India, Russia Sign S-400 Air Defense System Agreement

Russia and India have signed an agreement for the supply of five S-400 air defense systems.

"We've signed that agreement,” Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters Wednesday.

When asked about the time line regarding the first deliveries, Parrikar said, "It's hard to say, but as soon as possible."

In December 2015, the Indian Defense Acquisition Council had cleared the purchase of five S-400 missile systems for an approximate $6 billion.

S-400 is an anti-aircraft system and comes with a mobile launcher and a threat detection radar/command center. The deal also included purchase of about 6,000 missiles from Russia.

India’s Reliance Defense in December last year had announced entering a manufacturing and maintenance partnership with Russian Almaz-Antey, manufacturer of the S-400 air defense missile system.

The agreement will focus on radars and automated control systems as areas of partnership for the air defense missile systems, S-400 as well as offset policies of the Indian Ministry of Defense, Reliance had said in a statement.