The Russian S-400 "Triumf" anti-aircraft missile system cannot be considered a full-fledged strike complex, despite the possibility of using its missiles against ground targets. This conclusion was reached by the Indian publication IDRW.
Journalists recalled that the "Triumf" has indeed been used in this way, but this does not change its primary purpose.
The S-400 was created to combat aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and its missiles were primarily designed to intercept aerial targets.
According to IDRW, the very possibility of using an anti-aircraft missile against a ground target expands the tactical options for using the S-400, but does not turn it into a universal missile launcher.
It should be noted that economics and physics make the use of S-400 missiles against ground targets inefficient compared, for example, to the American HIMARS system. An S-400 missile weighs 1.8 tons, delivering a 180 kg fragmentation warhead with an accuracy of hundreds of meters.
At the same time, a GMLRS projectile for HIMARS weighs 300 kg, carries 90 kg of high-explosive ordnance, and hits the target with a deviation of only 1–5 m.
Read more on the topic:
- S-400 "Triumf" SAM system: how many targets it shoots down, is it better than Patriot, and which air defense is more powerful
- The world's longest-range air defense systems: S-400 "Triumph" is not in first place
- S-400 began shooting down targets using a new scheme: details of the tactics that changed air defense operations revealed