Nagpur: Kusha surface-to-air missile, developed on the lines of Russian S400 by Nagpur’s Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), on Thursday exceeded the range parameters during the first-stage trials in Odisha. The successful trial is a major step towards govt’s plans to have an indigenous multilayer air defence system under Mission Sudarshan Chakra.Kusha is billed to be the Indian version of Russian S400 missiles with Indian Air Force (IAF), which was also put in use extensively during Operation Sindoor. As against the stipulated range of 120km, the made-in-Nagpur missile achieved a range substantially above the expectations. This would be followed by two more stages of trials before final user evaluation and other processes.
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SDAL chairperson Satyanarayan Nuwal said the company hopes to reach the second and third stage trials within the stipulated period, ultimately making Mission Sudarshan Chakra a success. “The range achieved was higher than what was set during the trials,” he said.SDAL is the development-cum-production partner (DcPP) for the missile with DRDO. Public sector undertaking, Bharat Dynamics Limited, is also the DcPP in the project. Once cleared, the missiles would be made on a bulk basis by the companies based on orders from the armed forces.Like S400, even Kusha would be developed in three variants covering a range of 120-150 km, 250 km and 400 km, said sources.
