Explained: Is India Avoiding F-35 Fighter Jets Because Russia Designed The S-400 To Kill It?

Russia’s missile shield is in Indian and Chinese hands. Is that why the F-35 never arrived?

F-35 and S-400 (Photo: X/@front_ukrainian and ANI)

New Delhi: One aircraft is built for stealth, while the other for interception. Russia says its S-400 system was designed and manufactured for one job, which is to take down jets like the American F-35 before they can strike.

New Delhi says it is not talks with the United States about buying the F-35. The government told Parliament there are no discussions underway.

However, the speculation refuses to die. Some reports suggest this may be one reason behind Donald Trump’s recent irritation with New Delhi. Others point in a different direction. The reason could be the S-400 system, which is already in India’s inventory and also in China’s.

Russia says the S-400 can detect and destroy targets at a range of 400 kilometres. According to a study in the National Security Journal, this system has the range and sophistication to track stealth platforms such as the F-35 or even the upcoming B-21 bomber. Moscow has made similar claims before. Experts in the West remain doubtful, though not dismissive.

Apart from being a defence tool, the S-400 has also become a geopolitical signal. Western capitals have expressed concern over it for years. Moscow, meanwhile, continues to pitch it as a shield that even stealth cannot evade.

Known online as “KC-10 Driver”, a former US Air Force officer claims India was never formally offered the F-35. He believes the presence of the S-400 is the reason. In a post on X, he wrote that the system has the capability to neutralise an F-35. He also referred to Trump’s own comment that any offer made to India was in a “very early stage” and possibly just a small part of a wider defence cooperation framework.

India was never offered the opportunity to buy the F-35.

Primarily because they bought Russian S-400 Missiles (same reason Turkey was kicked out). The two systems working together might teach adversaries how to defeat the F-35.

“Russia & China also refuse to buy the F-35”. https://t.co/tMidi3Dhiq

— KC-10 Driver  B-737 Wrangler (@MCCCANM) August 1, 2025

So, can the S-400 actually shoot down an F-35?

On paper, both sit at the peak of military technology. Russian sources say the S-400 operates through a digital network of radar nodes that build a tracking web. This allows the system to lock on to fast-moving stealth targets. Their claim is an F-35 cannot slip through undetected forever.

Defence specialists in Europe and the United States remain cautious. They agree that the S-400 might detect an F-35 during takeoff or in suboptimal flight profiles. But engagement is another story. The F-35’s radar signature is low. Its electronic warfare capabilities are designed to jam or confuse missile systems. Its agility in combat situations also makes interception hard.

In the United States, there has always been unease when countries acquire the S-400. Turkey faced the consequences. Washington removed Ankara from the F-35 programme entirely. The logic was data from Turkish-operated S-400s could be used to study the F-35’s vulnerabilities. India has not faced similar action. But officials in Washington have issued warnings.

New Delhi has not committed to buying the F-35. At the same time, it has accepted the S-400 into service. That alone may have altered the conversation. Many believe this is why a full F-35 deal never materialised. It did not happen so because of cost or need, but because of caution on both sides.

There is one more layer. China also operates the S-400. If India were to acquire the F-35, Beijing would already have a working air defence system tailored to intercept it. In the event of a conflict, the jet’s stealth may not remain an advantage for long.

So the question remains: did India say no to the F-35 for strategic reasons? Or did the United States never fully offer it in the first place? The presence of the S-400 in Asia may hold the answer.