The government of India has plans to outfit its armed forces with long-range air defence systems of national development by the years 2028 and 2029. These systems will be able to identify and engage low-observable fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, and precision-guided munitions at ranges of up to 350 km.
The capabilities of the national LR-SAM (indigenous long-range surface-to-air missile) system that is currently being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of the Ministry of Defence of India under the “Kusha” project will be “comparable” to the recently adopted Russian S-400 “Triumph” system.
Following the approval of the practical implementation of the LR-SAM system development project by the government of India’s security committee in May 2022, the Ministry of Defence granted the “Acceptance of Necessity” (AoN) for the purchase of five air defence divisions for the Indian Air Force, with a total cost of 217 billion rupees (about 2.71 billion USD).
The mobile LR-SAM air defence system will be armed with interceptor missiles of various types that are meant to engage targets at ranges of up to 150, 250, and 350 km. The system will also be equipped with a long-range radar and a fire control system.
The air defence system will provide dependable zonal air protection with a target strike probability of at least 80% for a single missile launch and at least 90% for a salvo of multiple missile launches.
As per DRDO, the LR-SAM system, developed to provide full protection against airborne threats in strategically critical locations, will be effective even against high-speed targets with a low radar cross-section.
At ranges of up to 250 kilometres, the LR-SAM system can engage targets the size of a fighter aircraft, and at distances of up to 350 kilometres, it can engage larger targets such as AEW&C aircraft and aerial refuelling tankers.
The Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) of the Indian Air Force is an automated network integrating military and civilian radars for airspace control in India. The LR-SAM system will be able to “interact” with the IACCS of the Indian Air Force.
The Indian Army and Navy both have their own air defence systems, but it is the responsibility of the Indian Air Force to protect the airspace over the country. The Indian Air Force is equipped with a variety of air defence systems, some of which include MANPADS such as “Igla,” SAM systems such as “Akash” (with a range of 25 km), and medium-range SAM systems such as “Barak-8,” which were developed in partnership with the Israeli Industries.
The last two of the five S-400 long-range air defence missile system battalions that the Indian Air Force ordered as part of a contract signed in 2018 with a total value of 5.43 billion dollars are slated to be delivered to the Indian Air Force in 2024. The contract was worth a total of 5.43 billion dollars.
