Estados Unidos amenaza a India con sanciones por los S-400

Estados Unidos ha advertido una vez más a la India que podría enfrentar sanciones por la adquisición de cinco sistemas S-400: "Instamos a todos nuestros aliados y socios a renunciar a las transacciones con Rusia que corren el riesgo de desencadenar sanciones bajo CAATSA", citó a Reuters a un portavoz de la embajada de Estados Unidos en Delhi. Asimismo y en su reciente discurso de despedida, el embajador de Estados Unidos en Delhi, Kenneth Juster, también advirtió a la India que Washington podría invocar la CAATSA en su contra por comprar el S-400. Razones no le faltan, ya que existen serias preocupaciones de que el S-400 pueda recopilar las firmas electrónicas de aviones de origen estadounidense que opera el ejército indio. Estos incluyen aviones de transporte C-17 y C-130J-30 y helicópteros de carga pesada AH-64E Apache y CH-47F Chinook, por ahora.

¿Qué es la CAATSA?

Aprobada en julio de 2017, CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) es la respuesta de Washington a la anexión de Crimea por parte de Rusia en 2014 y su presunta interferencia en las elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos dos años después, en 2016. Hasta ahora, Estados Unidos ha impuesto la CAATSA a China y Turquía por comprar dos sistemas S-400 cada uno, ya que el fabricante Almaz-Antey está incluido en la lista negra de Washington. Como parte de las sanciones, Estados Unidos eliminó a Turquía del programa F-35 en julio de 2019, declarando en ese momento que la decisión de Ankara de comprar los S-400 es incompatible con participar en el programa F-35. Ahora bien, ¿las advertencias de sanciones de Estados Unidos a la India se derivan sólo de una decisión operativa para proteger el F-35, o son también una manera de penalizar a Moscú por anexionarse Crimea, y a la India por preferir los S-400 al PAC-3 o el THAAD?

¿Qué es el S-400? 

Esencialmente, el S-400 es un sistema defensivo antiaéreo que integra un radar panorámico multifunción con un alcance de 600 km, sistemas autónomos de detección y orientación, y lanzadores. Puede disparar cuatro tipos de misiles con alcances de ataque de entre 400 y 40 km para proporcionar una defensa de varias capas contra aeronaves giratorias y de ala fija, vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAVs) y misiles balísticos a altitudes de hasta 30 km.

¿En qué aventaja al PAC-3?

El S-400 está organizado en torno al sistema 30K6E, provisto de protección contra interferencias. El 30K6E puede localizar simultáneamente hasta 72 objetivos y rastrear otros 160, lo cual aventaja al PAC-3 que sólo puede localizar simultáneamente hasta 36 objetivos y rastrear otros 125. Asimismo, el S-400 puede alcanzar un objetivo a 400 km con su misil 40N6 recientemente probado, mientras que el PAC-3 puede localizar, y destruir, un avión a 180 km y un misil a 100 km con su complemento de misiles. Por si esto no bastase, el tiempo de implementación del S-400 es de cinco minutos, mientras que el del PAC-3 es de 25 minutos. En cuanto al rango de alcance en altitud, el sistema de defensa aérea ruso puede alcanzar objetivos en un rango desde 10 metros hasta 30 kilómetros, mientras que el rango correspondiente para el sistema PAC-3 va desde 50 metros hasta 25 kilómetros.

¿Se ha usado en combate el S-400?

Existe constancia de que el S-400 ha sido desplegado en Siria pero no se ha usado, y se cree que ha sido el responsable de mantener a raya a los aviones estadounidenses e israelíes. También se cree que es capaz de rastrear la baja firma de radar de los F-35 y los cazas avanzados J-20 de China, pero la efectividad real del S-400 a este respecto sigue envuelta en el misterio.

El S-400 vuelve a la mesa de negociaciones entre Estados Unidos y Turquía

Durante casi dos años, los sistemas antimisiles S-400 de Rusia han sido la manzana de la discordia entre Ankara y Washington.

En esta ocasión, los dos países están creando un grupo de trabajo técnico. La declaración del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Turquía confirmó el informe de esta decisión y ambas partes ya han firmado un acuerdo: “Se ha creado un grupo de trabajo conjunto con Estados Unidos sobre el S-400 y se han iniciado las negociaciones técnicas” dijo el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Turquía a finales de año. 

La idea de crear un grupo de trabajo no es ajena a los turcos: Por el contrario, incluso antes de las primeras entregas de sistemas de misiles antiaéreos rusos S-400, Ankara hizo esta oferta pero Washington la rechazó: A mediados de 2020, Estados Unidos no quería resolver el problema, pero decidió tensar las relaciones amenazando a Turquía con sanciones económicas.

Las sanciones entraron en vigor el 14 de diciembre y Ankara no las ha aceptado: El presidente turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ha subrayado que las sanciones de Washington tienen como objetivo desestabilizar la industria militar de Turquía, que ha venido ganando fuerza durante los últimos cinco años. Así las cosas, después de que Estados Unidos impusiera sanciones, Ankara confirmó su decisión de comprar más sistemas de misiles antiaéreos rusos S-400 y crecen los rumores en la industria militar de que Turquía y Rusia producirán conjuntamente la próxima generación de sistemas de misiles antiaéreos S-500.

¿U.S. to sell Patriot missile systems to Turkey?

The Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, told Arab News he believes the decision from the U.S. State Department to dangle the offer of the Patriot system is aimed to make Turkey drop the purchase of the S-400: If Ankara forges ahead with purchasing the Russian alternative, the Patriot offer would allow the U.S. to dismiss Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program.

The Patriot and S-400 are competing systems, and Washington has firmly opposed to Turkey’s planned acquisition of Russian-made systems that are designed to target American-made military weapons. In words of Nicholas Danforth, a senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Project, “The real breakthrough would only be if Turkey abandoned its plans to buy the S-400s. For the Patriot sale to move forward, Turkish officials must have to convince Washington they are not going to buy the S-400s.”

Turkey would not allow US to inspect Russian S-400

A senior Turkish official says Ankara would not provide the United States with the opportunity to study the advanced Russian-built S-400 air defense missile system, regardless of strong opposition from Washington and warnings that Turkey should not buy the anti-aircraft platform.

(Read more...)

S-400 Triumf: Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement

"Earlier in the day, Russia and Turkey have signed a loan agreement on Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 systems" Haberturk TV said last Friday.

According to the Hurriyet daily, Ankara will pay part of the sum from its own funds and will contract a Russian loan for the rest. Notably, the loan will be in rubles.

On September 12, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara had signed an agreement with Moscow on purchase of S-400 systems, with an advance payment already made.

On November 2, Director General of Russia’s Rostec Corporation Sergei Chemezov told TASS that the contract with Turkey on the sales of S-400 Triumf systems exceeded two billion US dollars.

Supplies of these systems are expected to begin within two years. Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-range anti-aircraft missile system that went into service in 2007.

It is designed to destroy aircrafts, ballistic and cruise missiles, including medium-range missiles, and surface targets. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 kilometers and at an altitude of up to 30 kilometers.

Washington keeps persuading Turkey not to buy air and missile defense systems from Russia, US Department of Defense Spokesperson Johnny Michael told TASS: "We have relayed our concerns to Turkish officials regarding the purchase of the S-400," the Pentagon spokesman said. "A NATO interoperable missile defense system remains the best option to defend Turkey from the full range of threats in its region. We have an open dialogue on this issue, and have emphasized the importance of maintaining NATO interoperability on any major defense systems procurements."

Congress Urges Hagel, U.S. to Block Turkey-China Anti-Missile Deal

Republican lawmakers in both chambers are urging the Obama administration to use diplomatic and military levers to pressure Turkey into abandoning its plans to purchase a long-range missile-defense system from China.

Critics of the possible deal, announced last month, are concerned it could endanger the integrity of NATO's evolving ballistic missile shield as China might seek to use the system it sells to Turkey to illicitly extract data from the alliance's inter-connected missile defense network.

Because of this fear, opponents argue Ankara should not be permitted to connect the FD-2000 antimissile system it is interested in purchasing from a Chinese company with the broader alliance missile shield. There are also doubts that the Chinese technology could be made compatible with other NATO antimissile assets. "We strongly urge you to exert all available diplomatic pressure to prevent Turkish procurement of a [China Precision Military Import and Export Corp.] missile defense system and ensure NATO will never allow such a system to be integrated into NATO's security architecture," say a group of GOP senators in a letter drafted for submission, possibly on Friday, to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Turkey, as a NATO member, is participating in the alliance plan to build a ballistic-missile shield that would cover all NATO territory. While the United States is supplying most of the critical assets for the shield, other member states are expected to augment it by enhancing and inter-connecting their own domestic antimissile capabilities. Ankara maintains it has the sole right to decide which missile-defense system to buy. "It is definitely, it’s going to be national capability first and foremost, and it’s going to be a national decision," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Gumrukcu was quoted by Voice of America as saying this week. Ankara insists the FD-2000 would be fully interoperable with other NATO antimissile assets and says it has made this a requirement of any deal with the CPMIEC firm.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said it was critical that all member states’ national missile defenses be inter-operable with one another. Of course, the FD-2000 "will not be inter-operable with NATO systems or collective defense capabilities." but even if the FD-2000 could be integrated with NATO assets, there are still the worries in Congress that the software would be compromised by digital back-doors created by Chinese developers interested on gaining access to alliance data. "Since Turkey is fully integrated into NATO’s missile defense network, such as the NATO Air Defense Ground Environment, we are concerned about the risk of third-country access to NATO and U.S. classified data and technology," reads the senators’ letter to Hagel and Kerry.

The Turkish government said it chose the Chinese system over other antimissile systems offered for sale by U.S., European and Russian manufacturers because at $3.4 billion it is considerably less-expensive and potentially could be co-produced with Turkey, allowing for technology transfer.

Turkey: The Chinese Headache

NATO member states are strongly opposed to Turkey’s decision to purchase a Chinese-built missile defense system, with one NATO official calling the missile system a “virus,” according to a report in the Turkish newspaper, the Hurriyet Daily News.

An unnamed NATO ambassador in Ankara, was even blunter, telling Hurriyet: “I have no idea why the Turks do not see the simple fact that the alliance’s security threat perception in the next 20 years is based on China. Air and missile defense will be the top defense issue in the foreseeable future, with China being under the magnifier.”

The Hurriyet article suggests that the main concern among NATO officials with Ankara’s purchase of the HQ-9 missile system is the lack of interoperability. In particular, the NATO officials interviewed expressed concern about integrating the HQ-9 with NATO’s Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) system, which operates on “Mode 5,” a code that enables the system to distinguish between friendly and adversary aircraft.

Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, expressed concerns with the fact that the Chinese company involved in the deal has repeatedly been sanctioned by the U.S. for its deals with countries like Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. “The main concern here was that the Turkish government was having contract discussions with a U.S.-sanctioned company for a missile defense system that was not operable with NATO systems,” Psaki said.

NATO: Concern about Chinese FD-2000 for Turkey

The head of NATO expressed concern on Monday 7th over Turkey’s decision to co-produce a missile defense system with a Chinese firm, saying he expected Ankara to choose a system that was compatible with those of other allies.

Turkey has said it is likely to sign a $3.4 billion missile defense deal with a Chinese firm that is subject to U.S. sanctions, although its decision is not yet final. The United States has expressed serious concerns to Turkey, saying the Chinese missile defense system would not work with NATO systems.

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said last month it favored China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp’s (CPMIEC) FD-2000 missile defense system over more expensive rival systems from Russian, U.S. and European firms. Some Western defense analysts have said they were surprised by Turkey’s decision, having expected the contract to go to Raytheon Co, a U.S. company that builds the Patriot missile, or the Franco-Italian Eurosam SAMP/T.

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands each sent two Patriot batteries to southeastern Turkey this year after Ankara asked NATO to strengthen its defenses against possible missile attack from Syria.

Turkey's sat-launcher plans raise concerns

Ankara'swestern allies worry that the Turks intend to use their own launching pad to fire the long-range missiles they hope to build in the medium- to long-run, as DefenseNews.com website reports. Turkey's procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), in early July signed a contract with the country's national missile manufacturer, Roketsan, to build the Turkish Satellite Launching System (UFS) for pre-conceptual design work. In 2011, Turkey announced plans to develop a missile with a maximum range of 2,500 kilometers, not revealing whether it would be ballistic or cruise. Although little information about the program has been released, a Turkish cabinet minister in January confirmed that Turkey possesses capabilities to produce a missile with a range of 800 kilometers. (Read more)