India deploys an S-400 battery near the Pakistan border

India has deployed (possibly permanently) a full battery of the S-400 long-range air defense system at Bhuj Rudra Mata Air Base, in Gujarat, which is part of the Indian Air Force’s Southwest Air Command. The base is located just 110 kilometers from the Pakistani border, and 315 kilometers from Karachi, which are the two main bases of the Pakistan Air Force.

The deployment of the S-400 system is intended to protect against offensive air combat operations of the Pakistan Air Force. The JF-17A/C and F-16 Block 52+ fighters will be the system’s primary adversaries, with potential assistance from Mirage III/V ROSE attack aircraft, in a preemptive or wartime SEAD/DEAD scenario, along with several other unmanned systems intended to to scuttled and decoyed standoff/precision strike, with various anti-radiation weapons, launched from the ground and air.

Please note that the detection range shown in the image (600 kilometers) is theoretical and depends largely on a variety of variables including ground curvature, terrain conditions, and especially the height of the flying target to be detected.

Likewise, the engagement range of 400 km (for one type of missile) is also theoretical and is only achievable against slow-moving, non-combat aircraft of commercial specification. The range of the S-400 against combat aircraft, which combines low RCS radar cross section and high supersonic maneuverability (with O/ECM jamming pods), is significantly lower and with low altitude penetration and evasion tactics, the system’s actual engagement range against troop fighters cannot be predicted. The Pakistani air force does not go far beyond the Indo-Pakistani border.

In addition, several different types and levels of escalation of SEAD/DEAD operational tactics are available, at all levels of conflict, defined by specific war plans, to negate the superiority of Indian S-400s deployed at such distance from international borders, while executing retaliatory/preemptive strikes at the same time. Time on important Indian military targets that the S-400 has been deployed to protect.