Following the reception of the final components to the Russian S-400 SAM system, China’s People’s Liberation Army is preparing to carry out initial trials of its first such regimental system against a simulated ballistic target at a Chinese firing range. Shipments of S-400 components have been ongoing since April. Under the deal, China will receive two S-400 regiments at a cost of about $3 billion. The next shipment should be accomplished by the year’s end. The Chinese military staff which will be operating the units were trained in Russia on their function and will be conducting the trials of the S-400. Given the speedy trials of the Russian SAM, it is expected that they will be just as speedily inducted into service with the PLA.
The Diplomat reports:
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is set to conducts its first live fire drill of its newly acquired first regimental set of Russian-made S-400 Triumf advanced interceptor-based air defense systems (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) in the coming days, according to an anonymous Russian source familiar with the matter.
“It is planned that in late July-early August the unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which underwent training in Russia, will carry out the firing against a simulated ballistic target at a Chinese firing ground,” the source told TASS news agency on July.
The PLA officially took ownership of the first S-400 unit last week, according to Russian media reports. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation as well as the PLA have so far not publicly commented on either matter.
Russia began delivering S-400 components, including launchers and mobile radar systems, to China in April. The last cargo shipment reportedly took place in early May. Russian personnel, specialized in operating the S-400 has been handing over the S-400 systems to the PLA over the past months, a process reportedly completed last week.
China will reportedly receive a total of two S-400 regiments for an estimated $3 billion with the second regimental set expected to be delivered by the end of 2018. It is still unknown when the first S-400 unit will enter service with the PLA, although a rapid induction, as evidenced by the recent announcement of the first test firing, can be expected. As I explained earlier this month:A S-400 regiment is divided up into two battalions (also called divisions in the Russian military), which in turn are split into two batteries. A battery can consist of up to 12 transporter erector launchers (TELs), although 4 to 8 TELs per unit are more common. In addition to the TELs, each battery includes a target acquisition and engagement (fire control) radar systems and a command post, as well as an additional fire control radar system.
A road-mobile S-400 battery can deploy within five to ten minutes and engage up to 36 targets simultaneously.
Nearly a dozen countries from across the Middle East and North Africa are either currently ordering Russia’s S-400 or are considering such. India and Turkey are some of the most notable of such arrangements, and in both cases Washington has made various attempts to block them. In turkey’s case, it was threats over the Turkish State’s acquisition of America’s precious, and extremely expensive, F-35, which would be terminated should Ankara go through with purchasing the Russian SAM system. A host of other threats have been issued from the Americans, but so far hasn’t deterred any of Russia’s arms customers.
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