Amid rumours that India is looking to procure more S-400 Triumf air defence systems, and even as Russia is expected to deliver the fifth S-400 to India in 2026, Russian defence experts claimed that the Russian system is better than the American MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 system in mobility and the range of targets it can engage.
In October 2018, India signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems. Four of these have already been delivered. The S-400 "Sudarshan Chakra" systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor.
According to experts at the Russian defense think-tank Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT), while both the Russian and American systems are virtually identical in terms of speed, when it comes to deployment speed from march to combat formation, S-400 outperforms the US system.
They noted that the differences in the mobility capabilities of the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system and the Patriot air defense system are fundamental.
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"...Triumf, with its five minutes, is five times faster than the Patriot, which deploys in 25 minutes. The S-400 launchers, providing vertical launch for missiles and subsequent tilting to any point on the horizon, have a 360-degree fire angle. The MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 launchers, with their inclined rails, have a limited field of fire," they observed in an article in the National Defense Magazine.. This would mean it becomes necessary to turn the US systems around when the air situation changes, they noted and concluded that the overall, in terms of mobility, the S-400 Triumf air defense system clearly and significantly outperforms its American counterpart.
The expert further said the Patriot's target acquisition radar is inferior to the Russian system.
They claimed that the problems of the US system are not in its technology, but in its strategy, as it is not prepared to combat the new threatening targets that have begun appearing in the sky.
Another limitation, according to the experts, is that procurement of the US system reduces the autonomy of the countries. "...the transmission of satellite data is dependent on the United States and is granted only to those who favor the US foreign policy. As a result, foreign customers purchase Patriot systems at the expense of their own independence."
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These claims come even as, during the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, India is reported to have shown keen interest in the procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess. Reports also indicate that India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
It is to be noted that S-400 Triumf provides longer-range area air defense (up to 400 km) with layered interceptors for aircraft, cruise missiles, and limited ballistic threats, while the MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 excels in shorter-range, combat-proven hit-to-kill intercepts against tactical ballistic missiles and aircraft. While the two systems serve overlapping roles in air and missile defense, they differ fundamentally in design philosophy, making comparisons more context-dependent, and comparisons of specs like radar range or speed may even make this an apples-to-oranges debate.
