India's Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, recently announced that within ten years, by 2035, the country plans to bring into service an indigenously developed missile defense shield called Sudarshan Chakra, described as an analogue to Israel's Iron Dome. The system is intended to protect critical strategic sites.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also voiced his intention to develop a national missile defense system, Bloomberg reports. While specific details have not yet been disclosed, Chauhan stated the system will be capable of neutralizing threats from both missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The need for such a system became clear to India following its recent confrontation with Pakistan in May 2025.
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However, experts caution that creating a missile defense system capable of protecting a vast country like India is not only technically complex but also enormously costly — nigh impossible — to achieve on the timelines set by the country's military leadership.
Skepticism is heightened by the fact that, despite 40 years of effort, India has still not managed to complete a fighter jet engine even for fourth-generation aircraft. Analysts point to inefficient management, inflated assessments of domestic capabilities, and reluctance to cooperate with private local firms — let alone foreign partners — as the main reasons.
Defense Express notes that although Sudarshan Chakra is compared to Israel's Iron Dome, the said Iron Dome itself is not a universal solution against all airborne threats. In Israel, it functions as part of a multilayered air and missile defense system integrated with other short-, medium-, and long-range assets.
Given that drones are included in India's Sudarshan Chakra concept, the system already differs from a classic surface-to-air missile battery relying solely on interceptors. It is also worth mentioning that India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently conducted flight tests of the Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS), which combines surface-to-air missiles, short-range interceptors, and even laser-based systems.
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