Russia continues the delivery of Russian S-400 missile systems to Turkey.

The supply of the main components of Russian-made S-400 Triumph air defense weapons to Turkey will take close to one week, the Izvestia daily writes. Russia began the delivery of S-400 Triumph air defense missile systems to Turkey on July 12. According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, three cargo aircraft delivered the system parts to Murted Air Base on that day. Another Russian aircraft flew in the next day.

The delivery of S-400 air defense missile by Russian military transport aircraft to Turkey, July 15, 2019.  (Picture source Print Screen video Russian MoD)

The deliveries are ongoing at a high pace. The main elements of the first set of the weapon will be supplied during the week, sources aware of the situation told the newspaper. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the contract would be finally completed in April 2020. Russia has spanned an air bridge to ensure rapid and uninterrupted transportation. Airlifters are for the first time engaged to deliver such a big volume of hardware. The pace of deliveries is important in conditions of strong US pressure.

The S-400 components are delivered to Turkey in strict compliance with the contract and in an agreed time, the Russian Defense Ministry told the Izvestia. S-400 is the latest air defense weapon to destroy a broad range of modern and prospective air attack means in conditions of intensive electronic warfare.

The ministry provided the footage of the first delivery on Friday, July 12, 2019, and since then airlifters have made over ten flights to Turkey. Il-76 and An-124 of the Aerospace Forces and one cargo aircraft of the emergencies ministry are engaged, according to the footage.

It was first reported in November 2016 that Turkey is in talks with Russia on purchasing S-400 missile defense systems. In September 2017, Russia confirmed that the contract with Turkey had been signed. The S-400 nicknamed Triumf or Triumph, NATO code-named SA-21 Growler is a long-range surface-to-air missile system produced by Almaz-Antey. The S-400 Triumph is designed to engage, ECM, radar-picket, director area, reconnaissance, strategic and tactical aircraft, tactical and theatre ballistic missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles and other current and future air attack assets at a maximum range of 400 km, and an altitude of up to 30 km.