India advances Project Kusha indigenous long‑range air‑defence system

India’s Project Kusha completed its maiden flight test on July 23, demonstrating the country's first indigenous long‑range surface‑to‑air missile (LRSAM). The three‑tier system includes M1 missiles (120‑150 km range), M2 missiles (≈250 km) and M3 missiles (350‑400 km), each capable of Mach 5 speeds. Designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the programme aims to give the Indian Air Force and Navy a home‑grown outer‑layer air‑defence capability that can eventually replace imported platforms such as Russia’s S‑400 and Israel’s Barak systems.

The missiles are intended to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, large drones and certain ballistic and hypersonic threats, operating within the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS). Officials stress that Project Kusha is part of a broader strategy for strategic autonomy in critical defence technologies and will complement, rather than replace, dedicated ballistic‑missile‑defence shields.

Successful testing marks a major technological shift for India, with all critical subsystems—including seekers, actuators and computing units—developed domestically, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers.