By Ajit Dubey
New Delhi [India], October 21 : Having successfully used it to bring down 6-7 Pakistani fighter and spy planes in Operation Sindoor, India is looking to buy a large number of missiles worth around Rs 10,000 crore from Russia for its S-400 air defence system.
The S-400 air defence system of the Indian Air Force brought down five to six Pakistani fighter aircraft and one spy plane at a distance of over 300 Km deep inside Pakistan during the four-day conflict and has been termed as a game-changer by the Indian Air Force.
"The Indian Air Force is looking to buy the missiles in significant numbers to further bolster its air defence capabilities. The discussions with the Russian side are already on in this regard," defence sources told ANI.
The Defence Ministry is likely to take up the proposal by the Indian Air Force for approval at a defence acquisition council meeting planned to be held on October 23, sources said.
India and Russia had signed a deal in 2018 for buying five squadrons of the S-400 air defence missile systems.
The Indian side is also looking to add more S-400 squadrons to its inventory and is asking Russia to supply the remaining two squadrons of the missile systems, of which three have already been inducted and operationalised.
The three squadrons were delivered as scheduled, but just before the delivery of the fourth squadron, war broke out between Russia and Ukraine.
The two sides have also discussed Indian's plans to induct more S-400 and S-500 air defence systems at various levels. The Russian military establishment is producing a large amount of equipment for its forces in the fight against Ukraine.
Indian side is also looking at the option of buying new air-to-air missiles from Russia to bolster its beyond visual range capability.
India and Russia have also discussed further enhancing the capabilities of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and their variants.
India and Russia have close military ties, and a major portion of the Indian Air Force's strike capability is of Russian origin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also scheduled to visit India in December, where the two sides will discuss further strengthening their military hardware cooperation.