S-400 Equipment Damage Not to Affect Delivery Schedule to China

Delivery schedule of the $3 billion S-400 air defence missile system to Beijing will not be affected following damage suffered to its auxiliary equipment when a ship transporting it to China got caught in a storm near the English Channel.

Work is currently underway to assess the damage in order to make it possible to cover losses in accordance with insurance. After the work is completed, undamaged equipment will be sent to the customer, the press service of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told TASS on Friday.

The damage will not affect the timeframe for the implementation of the contract on supplying the S-400 air defense missile systems to China, the press service said.

In November 14, China became the first foreign purchaser of Russian S-400 air defense systems after the contract was signed between the countries. In June 2016, head of Russia’s Rostec State Corporation Sergei Chemezov said that the Chinese Army would receive the S-400 systems no sooner than 2018. On December 7, 2017, Chemezov said that the delivery would begin in the near future.

The S-400 Triumf is the most advanced long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range ones, and can also be used against ground objectives. The S-400 complex can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.

At present, only Russia’s Armed Forces are equipped with the S-400 systems. Apart from China, Russia also has plans to supply them to three other countries - Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia.