Mission Sudarshan Chakra is an Indian defence initiative to develop an interlocked, multi-layered, all-encompassing, AI-enabled networked architecture that combines enhanced monitoring, cyber protection, and physical defense to protect Indian population and infrastructure against terrorist attacks, military strikes, and other high value threats.[3][4][5][6] The idea behind the defense barrier is similar to the Iron Dome of Israel and the Golden Dome of the United States.[3][7][8] The Defence Research and Development Organisation is the main entity spearheading the project.[9]
The system will function as a sword, as well as a shield.[10] The programme's goal is to establish a national multi-domain offensive and defensive security umbrella. It is to facilitate quick, accurate, and effective defense response against multi-vector threats such as ballistic missiles, hypersonic platforms, fighter aircraft, loitering munitions, swarm drones etc.[11][9]
History
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi unveiled Mission Sudarshan Chakra from Red Fort on August 15, 2025. The Sudarshan Chakra architecture will be expanded by 2035, and the programme will involve strengthening and modernizing existing defence system in the Indian military arsenal.[12] Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat policy, the research and development of the entire system architecture and manufacturing of the components will be done in India. Sudarshan Chakra will have the ability to execute precise counterstrikes, and incorporate anti-cyber warfare capabilities. In cooperation with the Indian military and private sector businesses, Mission Sudarshan Chakra will entail cooperation between defense research organizations and civilian research laboratories.[13][14][15]
The Chinese cyber attacks after 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes,[16][17][18][19]2025 Pahalgam attack, 2025 India–Pakistan conflict, drone and missile attacks targeting the Golden Temple,[20] nuclear threat from Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan General Asim Munir on Indian civilian infrastructure,[21] and announcement of Army Rocket Force by Prime Minister of PakistanShehbaz Sharif,[22] demonstrated the necessity for a complete defense system for India's national security.[23] Extensive coastline and hostile neighbors necessitated concurrent protection and surveillance. India's expanding economy raised the threats on financial hotspots, technology hubs, and industrial corridors. Mission Sudarshan Chakra became a vital tool for the survival of the country as a result of the confluence of security threats.[24]
It was held that critical military and civilian institutions, such as communications networks, food and water supplies, railway platforms, hospitals, religious sites, defense systems, and electrical grids, that are high priority targets for enemy forces needed to have their own layers of strong military and technological protection.[25][26][27] The Integrated Air Command and Control System and its own multi-layered air defense systems, Trigun system and the Akashteer network, will be interlocked with the Sudarshan Chakra architecture.[28][25][29] As of 2025, the fundamental components of Mission Sudarshan Chakra have already been determined. The evolving nature of warfare will inform the design of the entire system architecture.[30]
Sudarshan Chakra will safeguard all vital national locations and guarantee complete protection against an evolving multi-dimensional threats. With its threat detection and targeting system, it will be able to stop enemy aggression and launch potent reprisal strikes.[34] It will aid in quickly eliminating threats on land, in the air, at sea, and facilitate the safe return of Indian military assets.[35][24] It will examine sabotage of strategic assets, hybrid threats, and cyberwarfare.[36] Mission Sudarshan Chakra is an effort to develop a next-generation integrated surveillance and strike platform.[37]
Sudarshan Chakra will interlink with the integrated rocket force via. IACCS network.[30] The fundamental objective is to function as a single operational unit without delay by seamlessly integrating India's air defense network and missile strike force. Long-range precision weapons like ballistic and hypersonic missiles as well as soft/hard kill alternatives like microwave and directed-energy weapons would be used by Sudarshan Chakra to deliver counterattacks. The IRF's offensive strike capabilities and the IACCS's defensive surveillance will work in real time to carry out multiple precise retaliatory attacks, organize multi-layered air defense, and proactive threat identification.[38][39][40][9]
Drones, lasers, artificial intelligence, and other contemporary military technologies will be the part of Sudarshan Chakra architecture. The AI will develop counter strategies by performing permutations and combinations of multiple possibilities and military maneuvers to estimate the likelihood of future conflicts.[41][12] Entire India, including island territories, will be monitored by sensor layer, which will also cover at least 2,500 kilometres (1,600mi) past the international border.[42]
With AI playing a key role, it will have a nationwide network of radars, command-and-control centers, interceptor missiles, close range and long range counter unmanned air systems that can identify, track, and destroy incoming missiles, drones, artillery shells, and swarms or loitering munitions in real time.[30][43][44] Up to about 500 km, the system will detect and destroy drones and medium- and short-range missiles. There will be a rapid-response defense element in place to counter short-range aerial threats. In order to facilitate retaliation, it will track the sources of drone or missile launches. With Sudarshan Chakra, the Army, Air Force, and Navy will combine their air defense capabilities.[45]
It will include space-based tracking, automated command and control, land-based and sea-based weapon batteries, and an overlapping network of tracking and early-warning sensors. Mission Sudarshan Chakra is tied to Project Kusha's ongoing development. It also signifies the operational readiness of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme.[46][43][9] Sudarshan Chakra will help in real-time coordination between security forces, intelligence agencies, and research institutions using predictive monitoring driven by AI and an integrated threat response network.[47] It could involve upgrading the national air space management capability.[12] Using hypersonic interceptors, the initial phase will have an interception range of up to 2,500 kilometres (1,600mi) and an altitude coverage of up to 150 kilometres (93mi).[48]
Subsystem
Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (Raksha Kavach)
The Space Based Surveillance will identify possible threats in real time in the first layer. The command and control center will then receive alerts which will notify the DRDO AEW&CS for second-layer surveillance. Land based radar in the third layer will use the combined intelligence to scan the area for the incoming threat and transmit signals back to the command center. By eliminating threats that enters the surveillance zone, the control center establishes a protected area. In order to intercept threats, it will automatically guide the missile launchers. Three layers of protection are also included in the protected zone. Surface-to-air missiles will be used to destroy the airborne threats. The EW based soft-kill method will be used for jamming and damaging enemy targets.[61][24]
Kinetic interceptors and DEWs are combined under a single command architecture, which operates as a network-centric, layered shield. To create a real-time air picture, the centralized C2 combines radar and electro-optical sensor streams. The C2 assigns each conventional and asymmetric threat to an appropriate interceptor based on factors like flight route, radar cross-section, altitude, and velocity. Forward air bases, radar and missile sites, nuclear facilities, space installations, power plants, and industrial centers, will be protected by the IADWS.[62] The system is scalable and adaptable in order to defend against drone-based, hypersonic, and nuclear threats.[63] It will be merged with Akashteer and IACCS.[64]
Testing
23 August 2025: The first flight tests of the Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS) were successfully carried out by DRDO at the Integrated Test Range. Two high-speed fixed-wing UAVs and a multicopter were engaged concurrently by QRSAM, VSHORAD, and a 5 kW DEW at various altitudes and ranges during the test. Captured data from ITR's range instruments confirmed that all system components—radars, command and control, communication, drone identification and destruction system, and missiles—performed in unison for multi-layered area defense.[65][66][67][68]
Planning and deployment
Mission Sudarshan Chakra will be implemented in two stages between 2030 and 2035. Defense MinisterRajnath Singh announced at the Combined Commanders' Conference in Kolkata on September 16, 2025, that a committee has been established to review the project and will create a workable action plan with a medium-term plan through 2030 and a long-term plan through 2035.[69]
Prior to the committee's creation, the defense minister had already received a presentation on Mission Sudarshan Chakra. Officials from the government have stated that Mission Sudarshan Chakra will safeguard nuclear power reactors and the Indian Space Research Organization. The most important areas will be given priority by the phased approach.[70]
International collaboration
In a media briefing on August 20, 2025, Russian chargé d'affaires to India Roman Babushkin discussed Russia's readiness to support Mission Sudarshan Chakra.[71]
Assessment
To be fully implemented throughout India's major population centers, Mission Sudarshan Chakra will need an estimated ₹130,000 crore (US$15billion) to ₹170,000 crore (US$20billion) in initial expenditure and around ₹25,000 crore (US$3billion) in running costs annually. In contrast to the Indian Armed Forces' current air defense system, a national shield would need more extensive coverage. According to retired Indian military personnel, given the substantial budgetary load associated with the implementation of Mission Sudarshan Chakra, strategic moderation and targeted conventional force development are potential alternatives.[72]
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