Russia's S-400 given to China damaged by storm before being used
Russia's "Fire Dragon" was destroyed on the way to China.
RIA Novosti news agency on January 19 quoted Ms. Mariya Vorobyova, spokeswoman for the Federal Service for Defense and Technical Cooperation, as saying that some parts of the S-400 surface-to-air missile system were destroyed by a storm while they were being transported by sea to China.
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| The ship carrying the Russian S-400 system to China. Photo: Maritimebulletin.com |
To fulfill a contract to supply S-400 air defense systems to China, a ship carrying support equipment left the port of Ust Luga in the Leningrad region at the end of December 2017.
"While en route to China, the ship was hit by a strong storm. Part of the support equipment was destroyed. The ship had to return to its port of departure," the Federal Agency for Defense and Technical Cooperation said in a statement.
According to the Maritime Bulletin website, which specializes in tracking ship routes, the S-400 was loaded onto the general cargo ship NIKIFOR BEGICHEV, departing from Ust-Luga on December 30, 2017, destined for China.
The ship encountered a storm on the night of January 3 near England and had difficulty with the bulky cargo on board. The ship drifted for a while and only resumed its journey at around 5am on January 3 (global time, around 12pm on the same day Vietnam time).
The extent of the damage to the ship is of course still unclear and the ship returned to Ust-Luga anchorage on January 9.
On January 17-19, the ship NIKIFOR BEGICHEV was still seen anchored in Ust-Luga, Russia.
The representative of the Russian technical equipment transfer agency - Ms. Mariya did not disclose the details of the damage, only saying that they were unimportant equipment.
An anonymous source from the FSMTC said that the cargo ship that encountered the storm was carrying the command post, radar systems, power supply vehicles and technical logistics of the S-400 system.
According to Ms. Vorobyova, damage assessment is underway to be able to compensate for losses under insurance.
After the assessment, the undamaged devices will be shipped to China.
The incident will not affect the S-400 delivery time as stated in the contract, Ms. Vorobyova affirmed.
This is the first delivery in a contract to buy six S-400 systems signed by China and Russia in 2014, worth up to $3 billion. The delivery is expected to be completed before 2020, but does not include conditions for technology transfer.
Russia also signed a contract to supply S-400s to Türkiye in 2017.
Currently, only the Russian army is equipped with the S-400, and Moscow has planned to supply them to four other countries: China, Türkiye, India and Saudi Arabia.
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| America must also fear the S-400. |
National Interest magazine assessed Russia's S-400 defense system as a weapon that changes the "rules of the game" with its superiority over similar Western models in many parameters such as: simultaneously launching multiple guided missiles with different ranges, equipped with modern low-altitude anti-aircraft radar...
Although the S-400 is highly rated, the fact that the American magazine compared the S-400 with the Patriot made Russian experts not really satisfied because the Patriot is even worse than the S-300, so such a comparison is not really satisfactory.
Military expert Viktor Litovkin said that the S-400 can shoot down any airborne target, including ballistic and cruise missiles, fighter jets, bombers, attack aircraft...
"The S-400 is the most advanced air defense and defense system not only in Russia. This is a modern, high-tech and very effective system. There is no equivalent in the world, even the Americans are no exception," said Mr. Litovkin.
