Turkey Receives S-400 Missile System

• 13 Jul 2019

Turkey has received its first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system, setting the stage for the escalation of a dispute with the US.

• The S-400 includes advanced radar designed to detect stealth fighters like the F-35.
• Turkey is set to deploy the system along the border it shares with war-torn Syria.

S-400 Triumf

S-400 Triumf is one of the world’s most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects — all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs — in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

Background

• The United States had warned Turkey it will face economic sanctions if it goes ahead with the purchase of a Russian missile defense system.
• The US told the Turkish government that it cannot invest in both the Russian S-400 system and the ongoing F-35 fighter jet programme.
• Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the US is mandated to impose sanctions on any country making an arms deal with Russia.
• Turkey has been a key ally within NATO and long-standing US partner in the Middle East, the Black Sea area and in Southeast Europe.
• NATO countries believe that the Russian missile system would be incompatible with existing defence infrastructure and could allow Russia to access secret F-35 information.

Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)

• The Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
• It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.
• India could face US sanctions for purchasing high-value military defense items, in particular, state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf missile defense system, from Russia under the act. India is set to receive its first delivery of the system in 2020.