Project Kusha: DRDO’s Indigenous Alternative to S-400 Air Defence System; BEL Expects ₹40,000 Cr Order, Claims Report | Key Features

Kusha Air Defence System, also known as Project Kusha, is an initiative by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop an indigenous long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) system. As this indigenous system has a range of up to 400 km, it is often referred to as the ‘Desi S-400’.

Notably, the S-400 is a Russian-made air defence system, which was used during India’s Operation Sindoor. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), India’s leading defence public sector undertaking, is working as a development partner with the DRDO on the Kusha Project.

According to a report by NDTV Profit, BEL is expecting a potential order of up to Rs 40,000 crore from Project Kusha.

“We are the development partner with DRDO and are jointly developing many subsystems of Kusha, mainly different types of radars and control systems,”
said Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Jain during the March quarter earnings call, as quoted by the media house.

Also Read: India Requests More S-400 Missile Defence Systems, Russia Approves: Report

As per Jain, BEL is currently focusing on product development and aims to speed up system readiness. Prototype development is reportedly expected in the next 12 to 18 months, and user trials are expected to take an additional 12 to 36 months.

According to the report, BEL also expects to receive an order worth Rs 30,000 crore (approx.) for the Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) system.

Key Features of Project Kusha:

• The system is equipped with Multi-Tiered Interceptor Missiles:

M1 Interceptor: Destroys threats at 150 km range

M2 Interceptor: Engages targets within 250 km range

M3 Interceptor: For threats at a range of 350-400 km

• It is claimed that the system contains high-tech long-range surveillance and fire control radars that can detect multiple targets and track them at the same time.

• It has been announced that Project Kusha will be incorporated into the Indian Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS).

The decision to approve Project Kusha was made in the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting in May 2022.

This project aims to close the gap between Barak-8 (which has an 80 km range) mid-range systems and long-range systems such as the S-400. This capitalising on the projected reduction of dependency on foreign air defence systems