India Successfully Test-Fires Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile ‘Kusha’
New Delhi: India has achieved a major breakthrough in indigenous air defence with the successful maiden flight test of the Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) ‘Kusha’, conducted by DRDO from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the test, calling it an “important milestone in Indian defence R&D.”The Kusha missile system is designed to neutralise a wide variety of aerial threats, including fighter jets, missiles, UAVs, and large enemy aircraft, across a wide range and altitude envelope.
Highlighting the significance of the achievement, Singh said only a handful of nations possess the capability to develop such long-range surface-to-air missile systems.
“Today’s successful test flight of Kusha marks an important milestone in Indian defence R&D. The capability in developing long range surface-to-air missile system is possessed only by a handful of nations,” he said.
The minister added that the successful development of Kusha will help eliminate India’s import dependency for such systems and represents “a giant leap in air defence capability of the nation.”
“I congratulate DRDO and other stakeholders for this achievement,” Singh said.
The test was carried out from the Integrated Test Range on APJ Abdul Kalam Island.
With Kusha, India moves closer to a fully indigenous, multi-layered air defence shield capable of countering modern aerial threats.
DRDO has not yet disclosed the exact range of the missile, but LRSAM systems are typically designed to engage targets several hundred kilometres away.
