On India Visit, US Defence Secretary Austin Will Have to Deal With CAATSA Among Pigeons
India will become vulnerable to CAATSA, which applies to all Russian military and defence-related entities, later this year when deliveries of the S-400 missiles to the Indian Air Force begin.
Illustration: The Wire
Security11/Mar/2021
New Delhi:Â When US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III visits India next week, he will need to confront the awkward issue of Washington sanctioning New Delhi â or not â over its import of five Russian Almaz-Antel S-400 Triumf air defence systems in his deliberations, aimed primarily at furthering bilateral military and strategic ties to counter Chinaâs hegemonic ambitions.
Will They or Won t They? US Leaves Issue of Sanctions on India Under CAATSA Open-Ended
Oblique references to CAATSA by senior US officials have surfaced periodically, in what many military planners in Delhi claim qualifies as a tactical ploy by Washington to nudge Delhi into buying its materiel.
US Air Force F-15 fighter jets fly in formation during a flyover above Hudson River and New York Harbor, U.S. July 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar/File Photo
Security12/Feb/2021
Chandigarh: The US, it seems, is craftily leveraging its threat of sanctioning India over acquiring Russian defence equipment, particularly five Almaz-Antel S-400 Triumf self-propelled surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, possibly as a force multiplication strategy to âpersuadeâ New Delhi into buying more of its materiel, especially combat aircraft.
The system can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously.
It represents the fourth generation of long-range Russian SAMs, and the successor to the S-200 and S-300. The S-400’s mission set and capabilities are roughly comparable to the famed US Patriot system.
The S-400 Triumf air defence system integrates a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and command and control centre. It is capable of firing three types of missiles to create a layered defence.
The S-400 is two-times more effective than previous Russian air defence systems and can be deployed within five minutes. It can also be integrated into the existing and future air defence units of the Air Force, Army, and the Navy.