New Delhi: Even as India awaits the delivery of guided-missile warships being built in Russia and two of the remaining squadrons of the S-400 air defence missile systems, the two countries reached an agreement Monday to jointly manufacture the Pantsir air defence missile-gun system in what can be seen as a major boost to New Delhi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative in the defence sector.
India’s Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia’s Rosoboronexport (ROE) ahead of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
"Bharat Dynamics Limited and Rosoboronexport (ROE), Russia entered into MoU for cooperation on Pantsir variants,air defence missile-gun system,” BDL posted on its X handle Monday. "The MoU was signed by Cmde A. Madhavarao, (Retd), CMD, BDL, and Mr Kovalenko German, DDG, Naval Dept, ROE on sidelines of 5th IRIGC Subgroup at Goa."
The IRIGC has two divisions: the Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar from India and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov from Russia, and the Military & Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC), headed by the Defence Ministers of the two countries.
The agreement to jointly manufacture the Pantsir missile system can be seen as an outcome of this year’s annual India-Russia bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July this year. A joint statement issued following the summit called for joint manufacturing of defence equipment under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
India and Russia share a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. Russia is one of only two countries with which India holds annual bilateral summits, the other being Japan.
The joint statement issued following the July summit mentioned that both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment under the 'Make in India' programme through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian Armed Forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries by the sides’ approval.
Monday’s agreement on joint manufacturing of the Pantsir missile system comes amid Jaishankar’s statement that “a growing Russian appreciation of Make In India as a programme to deepen business will certainly help to take forward our cooperation in many domains". Jaishankar said this while addressing the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai earlier in the day in the presence of visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Manturov.
What is the Pantsir air defence missile system?
The Pantsir missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Three types of vehicles make up one system: a missile launcher, a radar truck and a command post. Starting with the Pantsir-S1, code-named SA-22 Greyhound by NATO, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, and is the successor to the Tunguska M1, a Soviet-era tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun armed with a surface-to-air gun and missile system.
The Pantsir-S1 is designed to provide point air defence of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and to provide additional protection to air defence units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.
If reports are to go by, the Pantsir missile system is playing a crucial role in protecting Putin from Ukrainian drone attacks amidst the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Pantsir-S1 carries twelve short-range surface-to-air missiles, which are launched vertically from canisters. These missiles are capable of engaging targets at ranges of up to 20 km and altitudes of up to 15 km. They use radio-command guidance and have a maximum speed of around 1,300 m per second, allowing them to intercept fast-moving targets.
In addition to missiles, the Pantsir-S1 is armed with two 30mm auto-cannons. These guns have an effective range of four km and can deliver a high rate of fire, making them ideal for targeting low-altitude, slow-moving aerial threats that the missiles might struggle to intercept effectively, such as small drones.
The Pantsir-S1 excels in short-to-medium-range air defence. Its combined missile and gun system provides a layered defence capable of intercepting a variety of threats. This air defence system has turned out to be popular in the international arms market, with systems sold to Algeria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, and Syria, among others. The system’s relatively low cost, modular design, and versatility have made it an attractive option for countries seeking a modern, short-range air defence solution.
What does this mean for India-Russia defence cooperation?
India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in the field of defence. The cooperation is guided by the IRIGC-M&MTC mechanism, headed by the defence ministers of both countries. Both countries participate in bilateral and multilateral military exercises across the three services. The bilateral exercise INDRA was last held in 2021. They also participate in multilateral exercises such as Vostok 2022 held in September 2022 in Russia.
Bilateral projects include the supply of S-400 Triumf long-range surface-to-air missile system, licensed production of T-90 tanks and Su-30 MKI, supply of MiG-29 and Kamov helicopters, INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov), a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian Navy, production of AK-203 rifles in India and BrahMos missiles. India-Russia military-technical cooperation has evolved over time from a buyer-seller framework to one involving joint research, development and production of advanced defence technologies and systems.
The $5.5-billion S-400 missile deal entails the delivery of five such squadrons. Though three of these squadrons have been delivered, the delivery of the rest two is likely to be delayed till 2026. Meanwhile, India is also expecting the delivery of the first of its two guided missile ships being built in Russia by the end of November. The two warships, to be christened Tushil and Tamal were originally meant to be delivered at the end of 2022 but this got delayed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, payment issues between the two nations and the Russia-Ukraine war.
How does India’s defence cooperation with Russia and the US in today’s multipolar world pare up?
India’s defence cooperation with both Russia and the US plays a crucial role in its broader strategic and military landscape. However, each relationship brings different historical, technological, and geopolitical dynamics to India's defence partnerships.
India’s defence partnership with Russia (the erstwhile Soviet Union) has been long-standing and rooted in Cold War geopolitics. Beginning in the 1950s, India turned to the Soviet Union for arms and military support, which formed the backbone of India’s armed forces. The Soviet Union provided India with advanced weapons systems and technology transfers, culminating in defence agreements like the 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation. Today, around 60-70 per cent of India's military equipment is of Russian origin.
However, India’s defence cooperation with the US is relatively recent, marked by significant growth only in the last two decades. During the Cold War, India’s non-alignment policy and the US’ support of Pakistan limited New Delhi-Washington defence cooperation.
Since the 2005 US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, though, the defence partnership has strengthened with both countries signing several key defence agreements such as the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). These agreements underscore a growing strategic alignment, driven by common interests in countering regional security threats, particularly from China. Coming back to Monday’s Pantsir deal, the Russia-India partnership remains foundational, providing India with reliable access to diverse military equipment and strategic autonomy. The agreement further boosts India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative coming as it does close on the heels of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s visit to India last month during which he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a facility in Gujarat for the joint manufacturing of the Airbus C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft.
