India's S-400 Operators Undergo Phase 2 of Training

Indian specialists are currently undergoing second phase of training in the operation of the S-400 system.

A group of around 100 Indian Army personnel were sent to Russia in the last week of January to begin training on how to operate them.

"The first part of the training took place, the second part of the training is underway, so everything is according to plan," Alexander Mikheev, head of Rosoboronexport, said on Russian MoD-owned Zvezda TV channel Wednesday.

The first batch of S-400s for India is at the final stage of production. Deliveries will begin as planned in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The second phase of training appears to involve new Indian operators. "As for the training, the first group of Indian specialists completed the training. The second group is undergoing training. I would not talk about the number of people but it is a sufficient number for the Indian armed forces to effectively operate our equipment. I would like to say that the results shown by the first group of Indian specialists after the training were very high. I would like to note the [high] level of training of Indian specialists," Almaz-Antey, Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy CEO of Almaz-Antey said during the Army 2021 International Military-Technical Forum.

Dzirkaln also confirmed that Russia will commence delivery of the systems by the end of this year.

India ordered S-400 air defense systems for $5.43 billion (INR 40,000 crore) in October 2018.

During the U.S. Embassy’s conference on Aero India, Don Heflin, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, said India may not be spared from CAATSA sanctions for buying Russian equipment.