Strategic Culture Foundation — Russia to supply S-400 to China and S-300 to Iran

Strategic Culture Foundation

The S-400 Triumf is a new generation anti-aircraft weapon system capable of engaging any aerial target, including aircraft, helicopters, drones, as well as cruise and tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum speed of 4,800 meters per second. Currently, there are nine Russian anti-aircraft missile regiment equipped with the S-400 systems, which were put on service in April 2007.

Russia Confirms Arms Deal to Supply China With S-400 Air Defense Systems

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to lift the ban on supplies of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran.

Russia's contract on S-300 supplies to Iran was suspended after the UN imposed sanctions against Tehran in 2010

Putin lifts ban on S-300 missile system supplies to Iran

See also

[US Defense]Secretary Carter’s comments during his trip to Asia reminds us that when it comes to imagining possible conflicts in Asia, regional trends point toward militaries preparing for hi-tech combat. Precision-guided munitions—ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile defense—have proliferated throughout the region and pose distinct challenges to deterrence and crisis management. Added to this is the rapid spread of various types of drones—aerial and undersea variants—the development of next-generation missiles like hypersonic glide vehicles, cyber and electronic warfare capabilities, and a burgeoning arms race in aircraft carriers. These individual developments are familiar to most Asia defense watchers, but collectively they paint a picture of militaries in the region trying to out-modernize each other.

For decades, the U.S. military presence in Asia has helped play a stabilizing role by dint of not simply its commitments to allies, but its military-technical superiority over all potential challengers. What Secretary Carter and his Deputy Bob Work have taken pains to emphasize is that the above trends in military technologies, combined with military concepts that use them to target U.S. and ally vulnerabilities, increasingly challenge U.S. superiority.

Logically, then, a minimally necessary condition for the United States to continue to play a stabilizing role in the region is to find a way to offset the technical advances of any would-be aggressors. The United States is not militarizing the region; the region is militarizing and the United States must find a way to play a stabilizing role as it does. The U.S. rebalance to Asia was intended to send a signal that the United States is committed to continued peace and prosperity in the region, but what that requires of the United States over time may vary.

U.S. commitments need to be credible, and credibility requires sufficient capability. As the region’s militaries modernize, the United States must adapt. Welcome to the next phase of the rebalance.

The Diplomat
Get Ready: America’s Pivot is Going Hi-Tech

Van Jackson

Arms race on as the US seeks to contain Russia and China.