India expects the contract for the delivery of Russian S-400 air defence missile systems to be finalized in 2024, Indian Air Force chief Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary said.
"Our contract was for five systems, three of which have already been delivered. There is a delivery bottleneck due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and we are confident of getting the remaining systems within the next one year", he told an annual press conference ahead of the Indian Air Force Day, set to be celebrated on 8 October.
Russia and India signed a contract for the delivery of the S-400 in October 2018. India became the third foreign buyer of these complexes after China and Turkiye, and has already accepted the first three batteries of the missile systems.
According to Indian media, the systems will be deployed to cover the Ladakh sector bordering China as well as the border in the state of West Bengal.