Russia Ships S-400 Anti-Aircraft System To China

China is in the process of receiving the Russian-made S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system – Russia’s first sale of its kind to a foreign country – under a contract that was agreed to in 2014.

Beijing is said to have purchased the system to help it regulate Chinese airspace from possible attacks, provide a level of control over the airspace of neighboring countries, and maintain a balance of power – to get one leg up – amongst its rivals.

"If we consider, for example, the [security] environment around China, these systems can provide invaluable assistance in the event of any conflict, both with potential overseas aggressors, and regional ones," security analyst Oleg Ponomarenko at Moscow’s Center for Strategic Studies told Radio Sputnik in 2017.

The S-400 Triumf, also known as the SA-21 Growler and previously called the S-300PMU-3, is an anti-aircraft weapon system consisting of very long-range, long range, medium, and short-range missiles that can hit targets and travel distances between 40 km (25 mi) and 400 km (249 mi). Developed in the 1990s, it was first put into operation by the Russian Armed Forces in 2007. Some experts considered the S-400 one of the best anti-aircraft missile systems in the world.

The Triumf is said to outmaneuver the American-made E-3 Sentry airborne early warning radar and control system, commonly known as AWACS and manufactured by Boeing. AWACS is used by the U.S. and its NATO allies, including aboard planes stationed at bases like Kadena Air Base in Japan.

China’s possession of the Russian system may alter the balance of power in the Pacific, as the Triumf payload is reported to be able to destroy all enemy air objects, including airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles flying at speeds of up to 4,800 meters per second.

Some say China’s possession of the system is meant to influence its territorial disputes, such as that over Taiwan, and with Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China.

“China has long been interested in this complex,” Dr. Pavel Luzin, the CEO of Under Mad Trends research and consulting company, told Caspian News. “Beijing is already armed with Russia’s S-300, so they are experienced in using Russian air defense systems,” he added.

The $3 billion purchase from Russia bars Beijing from commercializing or altering the S-400 system, which was used during joint training exercises in 2017.

Luzin said the deal demonstrates the Kremlin’s desire to maintain Russia’s status as the world’s second-largest arms exporter after the United States.

“JSC Almaz-Antey, a manufacturer of air defense and missile defense systems and cruise missiles, is Russia’s largest company within its military-industrial complex, in terms of volume of revenues, not counting a Russian state corporation Rostec,” he said.

Luzin believes the sale of the Triumf system to foreign countries is tied to money: over the last 20 years foreign demand for the S-300 system has been satisfied, as well as the demand for short-range air defense systems.

Turkey was the second country to purchase the S-400 from Russia, in September 2017, for $2.5 billion. Contracts have also been signed between Russia and Saudi Arabia, India and possibly Algeria. Bahrain, Egypt and Vietnam have also shown interest in purchasing the system.