Defence system: India to develop its own 400 km class Long-Range Surface to Air Missile

India is building a three-layered long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) defence system on its own, which may provide the country’s defence industry a significant boost and be able to shoot down enemy planes and missiles at distances of up to 400 km.

The proposal for developing a three-layered long-range surface-to-air missile system is at an advanced stage in the Defence Ministry and is expected to be taken up for clearance soon, defence sources told the sources. The over USD 2.5 billion project will help india to be part of an elite group of militaries with indigenous capabilities to shoot down enemy assets in the air from such ranges, they said.

The missile system will have three layers of surface-to-air missiles, which would allow it to hit targets at different ranges. The surface-to-air missile system development work has been taking place as India worked with Israel to develop the medium-range surface-to-air missile system MRSAM which can hit aerial targets at 70 plus kms.

The Indian system, sources said, would be very capable and would certainly be in the class of the S-400 air defence system already acquired from Russia and deployed along the China and Pakistan border.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has made significant success in terms of developing air defence weapons for both ground-based and warship-based systems.