BHUBANESWAR: India took a major leap towards self-reliance in strategic air defence with the maiden flight test of the indigenously developed long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) Kusha from a defence test facility off the Odisha coast on Thursday.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the most advanced state-of-the-art missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at APJ Abdul Kalam Island, despite inclement weather conditions.
The first trial of Kusha was carried out against an electronic target simulating a high-speed, high-altitude aerial threat. The successful test placed India among a select group of nations capable of developing advanced long-range air defence systems indigenously and strengthening the country’s multi-layered missile shield.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the missile accurately tracked and destroyed the target, validating the performance of the complete weapon system, including its radar, command-and-control network and guidance mechanisms. The missile has been designed and developed to neutralise a broad spectrum of aerial threats.
“The Kusha missile system is capable of neutralising a wide variety of aerial threats including fighter jets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and large enemy aircraft within a wide range and altitude envelope. All weapon system elements, including the missiles, radars, command and control centre, have been developed by various DRDO laboratories and industry partners,” the MoD said in a statement.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the successful maiden flight as a landmark achievement in India’s defence research and development (R&D) programme. He said the development demonstrates India’s capability to build a sophisticated long-range surface-to-air missile system, a technology possessed by only a handful of countries.
The indigenous system, he said, will substantially reduce India’s dependence on imported air defence platforms while providing a major boost to the nation’s overall air defence preparedness.
Defence Secretary and Secretary of Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh monitored the trial. He congratulated the scientists, engineers, and industry partners associated with the weapon system for the successful test.
The Kusha programme is India’s most ambitious indigenous long-range air defence project. Conceived as the country’s homegrown counterpart to advanced systems of other developed nations, it is intended to provide layered protection against a wide variety of modern and fast-moving aerial threats.
Unlike conventional surface-to-air missile systems, Kusha is being developed as a family of interceptors. The missile will have three variants with various engagement ranges. The first missile, whose maiden test was conducted, has been designed to engage targets at ranges spanning 150 km to 300 km. Subsequent variants are expected to extend the interception range to more than 500 km, enabling the system to tackle high-value targets far deeper into hostile airspace.
Equipped with advanced phased-array surveillance radars, secure data links, sophisticated battle management software and mobile launchers, the missile travels at hypersonic speeds of over Mach 5. It employs advanced guidance systems and high-precision proximity fuses to destroy incoming threats with a high probability of kill.
Once fully operational, Kusha will complement existing systems and replace imported weapon systems, creating multiple defensive layers capable of intercepting threats at different ranges and altitudes, said defence experts.
Source: Business Standard
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