Karachi:
Indian Prime Minister Modi posed in front of a S-400 missile launcher during a visit to Adampur air base on Tuesday, a moving from the Indian media considered as a “verification of the facts” of the affirmation of Pakistan that she had neutralized two of the advanced systems during the Bunyanum Marsoos operation.
But the photo function may have inadvertently allowed Pakistan’s affirmation – precisely because of what was missing.
In a post on x [formerly Twitter]The expert in South American Asia, Christopher Clary, noted that although there is still no concrete evidence of Pakistani success against the S-400, Pakistan would be “at least as probable if not more likely to target the command center or the radar than the launcher” of the air defense system.
“Maybe these systems are in other photos,” said Clary. In a later article, he shared photos of a S-400 command and control center destroyed in the Ukraine War, alongside two radar vehicles commonly associated with the system.
According to an explanator of the TRT World Research Center, the S-400 system is designed to detect and destroy planes, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. A research document in 2021 published in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, indicates that each S-400 system includes two batteries.
Each battery includes a command and control unit, a surveillance radar, an engagement radar and four launch trucks called “Carrier – Erector -Launchers”. According to TRT World, a complete battalion consists of eight launchers, each capable of transporting four missiles
The S-400 has a beach of 250 to 400 kilometers, depending on the type of missile, and can target objects at altitudes up to 30 kilometers. The system mainly uses the 48N6 missile series, which can intercept air targets up to 250 kilometers from distance and ballistic missiles within a radius of 60 kilometers.
In a statement published on Saturday, the Pakistani army said it had managed to destroy an S-400 Indian battery stationed at Adampur air station in the Jalandhar Du Punjab district, using hypersonic missiles guided by precision launched from a JF-17 platform.
