Turkish Firms to Manufacture S-400 Components in Second Contract Planned with Russia

Russia is planning to deliver a second batch of S-400 air defence system to Turkey under which some components of the high tech system is planned to be manufactured by Turkish firms by way of a technology transfer clause.

"After the delivery of the first batch concludes in May or June 2020, the parties plan to sign a new contract on the delivery of the second batch of the S-400 systems in 2021. The list of supplies will be similar to the one included in the first contract," a military diplomatic source told TASS on Wednesday.

According to the source, the new document is planned to stipulate local manufacturing as Turkish companies will produce certain components of the S-400 systems, "which are not of crucial importance".

Last year in September, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara had signed a contract with Moscow on purchasing the S-400 complexes and made an advance payment. Head of Russia’s Rostec State Corporation Sergei Chemezov said that the delivery would begin in March 2020.

The S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the most advanced long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range ones, and can also be used against ground objectives. The S-400 complex can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.