Can India Build An Impenetrable Air Defence?

India’s air defence architecture is undergoing a fundamental transformation. For decades, the country remained heavily dependent on imported systems for long-range air defence, most notably the Russian S-400. But with the development of Project Kusha, India is seeking to build a powerful indigenous alternative and close a critical capability gap.

Project Kusha is envisioned as a long-range surface-to-air missile system with three layers of interceptors. The medium-range interceptor, MI, has already entered the testing phase, while the longer-range M2 and M3 variants are expected to be tested in subsequent years. The system is projected to become fully operational by 2028.

The need for such capabilities has become increasingly urgent. Air defence is no longer simply about protecting individual airbases or strategic installations. Modern warfare has brought a far more complex threat environment, involving drone swarms, cruise and ballistic missiles, loitering munitions, aircraft and emerging hypersonic systems.

This has pushed militaries towards integrated air and missile defence, where sensors, radars, command-and-control networks and interceptors operate as a single system. India’s architecture already combines long-, medium- and short-range systems, including the S-400, MR-SAM, Akash-NG, Akash and QRSAM. The principle is straightforward: if one layer fails to intercept a threat, another gets the opportunity to engage it.

Operation Sindoor provided an important demonstration of India’s evolving capabilities, highlighting the importance of networked air defence, faster decision-making and greater integration of indigenous systems such as Akashteer.

The larger ambition is reflected in Mission Sudarshan Chakra — a proposed indigenous, AI-enabled and network-centric air defence ecosystem integrating satellites, radars, interceptors, drones, directed-energy systems and anti-drone weapons.

In this episode of Defence Mantra, Nitin Gokhale and Neelanjana Banerjee examine Project Kusha, the evolution of India’s air defence strategy, the lessons from Operation Sindoor, and the vision of building a multi-layered indigenous shield capable of responding to the threats of tomorrow.