What makes S-400 a politically savvy deal, but hardly a game changer

The S-400 deal with Russia, comes as a mixed bag with gains at best being political. On balance it would be safe to say that militarily, despite the S-400's formidable capabilities (as advertised) will not translate into a serious game changer on the ground, and its purchase costs may be misleading as its integration may turn it into a white elephant that could bleed the military down the line.

What we need to be clear about is that on paper, the S-400 is a formidable capability against aircraft. It has very long range and ability for extreme manoeuvres, which means that most aircraft it will face up against, will theoretically be mincemeat. Sadly, the reality may be different. It is safe to say that Pakistan's late purchase F-16s may have significant jamming capabilities against the S-400 as the life cycle of these late production F-16s and access during production to the US's updated threat database would have accounted for the S-400 threat.