India's Sudarshan Chakra Shield, Announced By PM Modi In I-Day Speech, Begins Taking Shape

India’s Sudarshan Chakra Shield, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address as a comprehensive nationwide air defence architecture, has begun taking shape with the maiden flight test of the country’s first indigenous Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS).

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out the test on Saturday (23 August), less than 10 days after the Prime Minister's announcemrnt.

The system engaged and destroyed three aerial targets including two high-speed fixed-wing UAVs and a multi-copter drone simultaneously at different ranges and altitudes.

The IADWS combines indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missiles (QRSAM), the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS), and a high-power laser-based Directed Energy Weapon (DEW).

Integrated through a centralised command and control centre with advanced radars and communications, the system can intercept fighters, helicopters and drones at ranges up to 30 km.

The DEW uses 2 and 10 kilowatt lasers to disable or destroy small drones and remotely piloted aircraft at close distances.

The development comes days after Modi’s announcement of Mission Sudarshan Chakra, a networked multi-domain shield intended to secure India against long-range missiles, drones, cyber intrusions and other evolving threats by 2035.

The project envisions collaboration between defence research organisations and private industry, and eventual integration with the Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) and the Army’s Akashteer network.

India’s existing layered missile defence which includes S-400 Triumf, Barak-8 MRSAM and Akash systems was tested during Operation Sindoor when the Armed Forces thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks. The IADWS now adds a crucial indigenous element to that shield.