India’s Indigenous Kusha LR-SAM Achieves First Flight

The ‘Kusha’ Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile, developed as India’s indigenous alternative to the prohibitively-expensive but effective S400 surface to air missile system, achieved its first successful flight on Thursday, 23 July, taking down a simulated aerial threat and achieving its mission objectives.

The test firing took place at Odisha’s APJ Abdul Kalam Island, pitting the missile against a high-speed and high altitude electronic aerial threat. The threat was successfully intercepted, validating the performance of the system’s radars, missile and the command and control centre.

A government press release did not mention the range at which the missile intercepted the threat, but the Kusha LR-SAM system has three missile variants, each capable of intercepting targets at 150 kilometres, 25 kilometres and 400 kilometres, respectively.

The ability to take down aerial threats at varying ranges demonstrates the system’s capability to take on a range of threats from fighter jets to long-range cruise missiles to combat UAVs operating hundreds of kilometres away.

The system, officially called the Extended Range Air Defence System, is being developed and refined by Defence Research and Development Organisation with learnings from the recent India-Pakistan conflict in early 2025 when the Indian armed forces’ air defence capabilities were put through a gruelling test.

Project Kusha, DRDO’s ₹21,700 crore project to build and deliver five Kusha LR-SAM squadrons to the IAF by 2030, was initially cleared in May 2022 but has been fast-tracked in the wake of Operation Sindoor. As per reports, the agency tested the M1 variant which features a maximum range of 150 kilometres, and the M2 and M3 variants will be tested in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Each Kusha squadron will field eight launchers, each of which will carry twelve missiles, as well as multi-function fire control radars, long-range observation radars, and command and control vehicles. Similar to the S400 systems, each Kusha squadron will be entrusted with area-defence and will serve as a crucial component of the armed forces’ Sudarshan Chakra, a multi-layered air and missile defence shield covering the length and breadth of the country.