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UPSC 2021 GS-III · 10 marks · 150 words

What is the S-400 air defence system? How is it technically superior, if in any way, to any other system presently available in the world?

What “Examine” demands

investigate the issue closely — how it arose, how it works, what it achieves and where it falls short — looking at both sides.

The characteristic failure: description of what the thing is, with no probing of how well it works.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Russian long-range SAM: engagement to ~400 km, ~80 simultaneous targets, mixed-missile layering
  • Superiority claims: range and multi-band radar vs Patriot PAC-3; mobility; cost-per-intercept
  • India: five squadrons (2018, ~$5.4 bn), CAATSA-waiver politics, two-front deployment logic
  • Balance: unproven against stealth/saturation; IACCS integration as the real force-multiplier question

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