India-Russia hint at new air defence deal, preparations to acquire Pantsir-S1M system; China-Pakistan likely to feel the heat

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Security challenges along India’s borders are steadily increasing. Tensions with Pakistan on one front, China on another, and emerging concerns involving Bangladesh have further deepened India’s strategic worries. In this situation, strengthening the country’s borders from east to west and north has become a critical necessity. After Operation Sindoor, the urgency to counter aerial threats has been felt even more strongly.

To address these challenges, the Indian Air Force, Army and Navy are continuously working to strengthen the country’s air defence network. Along with indigenous technology, imported air defence systems are also being relied upon. India has already acquired several squadrons of the Russian S-400 air defence system, which proved their effectiveness during Operation Sindoor. Discussions are also reportedly underway regarding the future acquisition of the more advanced S-500 system.

Meanwhile, India and Russia appear to be moving closer to another important defence deal. This proposed agreement is also related to air defence but falls into a different category than the S-400 and S-500 systems. Talks have intensified over a possible deal for the short-range air defence system Pantsir-S1M. These discussions come at a time when the Indian Army is advancing its new tracked air defence platform, CADET (Carrier Air Defence Tracked).

The Army is looking for a common platform on which different types of air defence weapons can be deployed. In line with this requirement, Russia’s Pantsir system has once again come into focus. According to a report by Indian Defence Research Wing, a tender for the Pantsir system had been issued earlier but did not move forward due to various reasons. Now, CADET is being planned as a multi-role, common tracked platform to support the deployment of multiple air defence systems in the future.