New Delhi: India’s ambitious indigenous long-range air defence programme, Project Kusha, has received a major strategic boost with the Indian Army formally expressing its intent to join the initiative alongside the Indian Air Force.
The development marks a significant step toward building a unified, domestically developed national air defence architecture designed to reduce long-term dependence on imported strategic missile systems.
The move comes as India prepares for the first prototype flight trials of the Kusha-M1 and Kusha-M2 interceptor missiles, expected later this year. Defence planners view the upcoming tests as a critical milestone in validating the operational capabilities of the indigenous system.
Under the programme, the Kusha-M1 interceptor is designed to engage aerial threats at ranges of nearly 150 kilometres, while the more advanced Kusha-M2 variant is expected to extend interception capability to around 250 kilometres.
Project Kusha is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation as a next-generation long-range surface-to-air missile shield capable of defending against a broad spectrum of threats, including fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, stand-off weapons, and select ballistic missile targets.
The system is widely viewed as India’s effort to establish a sovereign strategic air defence capability comparable to advanced global systems while progressively reducing reliance on foreign-origin platforms such as the S-400 Triumf.
The Indian Army’s participation reflects the changing nature of modern warfare, where long-range precision weapons, drone swarms, stealth aircraft, and cruise missiles increasingly threaten frontline formations and critical infrastructure.
Defence experts believe the inclusion of multiple services will help transform Project Kusha from a platform-centric missile programme into a fully networked national air defence grid.
One of the most important advantages of Project Kusha is its planned integration with India’s Integrated Air Command and Control System, commonly known as IACCS. Developed by the Indian Air Force, the IACCS functions as a nationwide digital command network linking radars, airborne warning systems, missile batteries, and command centres into a unified operational framework.
Unlike imported systems that often require customised software adaptation to integrate with domestic defence networks, Project Kusha is being designed from the outset for seamless compatibility with India’s indigenous command-and-control infrastructure.
This network-centric architecture will allow real-time sensor fusion, enabling target information gathered from multiple platforms — including airborne early warning aircraft, ground radars, and distributed surveillance assets — to be instantly shared across the defence network.
In practical combat scenarios, Kusha interceptor missiles may therefore engage hostile targets using tracking information provided by remote sensors rather than relying solely on their own fire-control radars.
For example, target data collected by airborne surveillance aircraft or ground-based systems such as the Arudhra Radar developed by Bharat Electronics Limited can be transmitted through the network to guide interceptor missiles toward incoming threats.
This distributed, multi-static tracking capability is considered especially important in countering modern stealth aircraft and low-observable aerial systems. By combining data from multiple radar angles and sensor types, the system can detect weak radar signatures that may otherwise evade isolated radar stations.
Project Kusha is also being structured around a layered defensive doctrine similar to advanced air defence systems deployed by leading military powers.
In addition to the M1 and M2 interceptors, the programme reportedly includes a third long-range interceptor variant, Kusha-M3, which is expected to engage high-value airborne assets such as enemy AWACS aircraft, aerial refuelling tankers, and strategic bombers at ranges between 350 and 400 kilometres.
The interceptor family is expected to utilise advanced dual-pulse solid rocket motors designed to maintain high manoeuvrability and terminal interception energy during the final phase of engagement. Open-source defence assessments suggest that the missiles may also incorporate advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radio-frequency seekers along with infrared guidance technologies for precision terminal tracking.
The industrial ecosystem supporting Project Kusha is also expanding rapidly. The programme was cleared by India’s Cabinet Committee on Security in 2022, followed by an Acceptance of Necessity for five operational squadrons for the Indian Air Force.
Major public-sector defence firms including Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited are serving as key manufacturing partners for the programme.
As part of production expansion efforts, Bharat Electronics Limited has reportedly allocated land and infrastructure within the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor to support future large-scale manufacturing of Project Kusha components.
Defence observers believe that if successfully operationalised, Project Kusha could emerge as one of the cornerstones of India’s future integrated air and missile defence architecture, significantly strengthening the country’s ability to counter evolving aerial threats through indigenous technologies and network-centric warfare capabilities.
