What's at stake for Russia with S-400 deliveries to Turkey?
The decision to sell the missile system to Turkey is now seen as a win for Moscow, but this doesn't mean it came easy. And there are still potential downsides for Russia.
MOSCOW — This week will see the completed delivery of the first stage of Russian S-400 missile system components to Turkey. As was reported by RIA Novosti, over the course of this supply phase Ankara will receive launching systems and electronic equipment for the system.
While the first deliveries of the S-400 to Turkey started more than 10 days ago, the defense ministries of both countries continue to publicly report on the details of every arrival sent from Russia. On July 19, the Turkish Defense Ministry said one more Il-76MD cargo aircraft carrying parts of the missile system arrived at the Murted air base near Ankara and pointed out that the supplies were being received “as scheduled.” The 18th and 19th airplanes carrying S-400 components were two An-124 Ruslan heavy military transport aircraft of the Russian air force. Moreover, at one point the Russian Defense Ministry even utilized the Emergency Ministry’s Il-76MD cargo airplane.
Mikhail Barabanov, a military expert and editor-in-chief of the Moscow Defense Brief, told Al-Monitor that, in theory, the components could have been transferred by sea.
“Part of the installment may be indeed be sent this way, though air transportation was most likely chosen to speed up the delivery and to make it more demonstrative,” he said.
