Kusha Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM):
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the Kusha Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
- Project Kusha is India’s indigenously developed, long-range air defence missile system. Often dubbed India’s indigenous answer to the Russian S-400 Triumf, it is a fully automated, scalable surface-to-air missile ecosystem designed to detect, track, and destroy enemy aerial threats at standoff distances.
- Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in partnership with public and private defense industry partners.
- Monitored and validated under the Ministry of Defence from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha.
- Aim is to build a scalable, multi-layered national air defence shield—aligning with the vision of the integrated “Sudarshan Chakra” national air umbrella—to protect critical civilian and strategic assets while eliminating reliance on foreign air defence imports.
Key Features of Project Kusha:
- Three-Tiered Interceptor Family: Comprises three distinct missile variants tailored for tiered engagement envelopes:
- M1 Variant: Engagement range up to 150 km.
- M2 Variant: Engagement range up to 250 km.
- M3 Variant: Extended engagement range up to 350 km.
- Wide Altitude and Operational Envelope: Designed to neutralize fast-moving targets across various altitudes, spanning low-flying cruise missiles to high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
- Fully Integrated Indigenous Subsystems: Includes locally developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, command and control centers, automated battle management software, and high-precision missile seekers.
- High Interception Success Rate: Engineered to perform hit-to-kill and proximity-detonation interceptions against complex electronic target profiles and saturation attacks.
