Modi-Putin meet: India to seek five more S-400 squadrons in Russia talks

INDIA is expected to push for five more S-400 air defence squadrons and a large fresh missile order with Russia during the Modi-Putin summit on December 5, even as New Delhi prepares a Rs 63,000 crore upgrade of its frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fleet, according to a report in the Times of India.

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The plan includes additional surface-to-air missiles for the S-400 systems already inducted, which the Indian Air Force (IAF) believes performed ‘exceedingly well’ during Operation Sindoor, the report said. On the table is also a separate Rs 10,000 crore procurement of S-400 missiles with interception ranges of 120 km, 200 km, 250 km and 380 km to replenish stocks used during hostilities with Pakistan and build reserves.

At the same time, the PM-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is set to approve the Rs 63,000 crore upgrade of the first lot of 84 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, out of the IAF's 259 Su-30MKIs, with advanced radars, avionics, longer-range weapons and multi-sensor fusion 'to ensure they are capable of air combat for another 30 years’.

"While the upgrade will be carried out indigenously, Russia will have some role in it," another source told Times of India.