Taking about the indigenous umbrella shield ‘Sudarshan Chakra’, the CDS said, “The aim is to develop a system to protect India’s strategic, civilian, and nationally important sites.”
Days after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced “Mission Sudarshan Chakra”, an initiative to protect the country’s skies, India’s chief of defence staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday it will act as a shield as well as a sword, requiring a whole-of-nation approach. He was the first military officer who spoke about the Sudarshan Chakra at the first edition of Ran Samvad at Army War College, Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.
Taking about the indigenous umbrella shield ‘Sudarshan Chakra’, the CDS said: “The aim is to develop a system to protect India’s strategic, civilian, and nationally important sites.” Calling it as “India’s own Iron Dome (Israel’s missile shield) or Golden Dome (a proposed multi-layer defense system for the United States), he said: “A colossal amount of data will need to be analysed for information and real-time response,” adding: “I am sure we will do it at an affordable cost.”
Army War College, Mhow is organising a two-day Tri-service dialogue on war, warfare and warfighting — “Ran Samwad” 2025, bringing serving military professionals to the forefront of strategic dialogue.
On the second day of the event, the defence minister, Rajnath Singh will deliver a plenary address and also release two Joint Doctrines and the Technology Perspective & Capability Roadmap.
Asianetnews English had reported about the announcement by the prime minister on his first Independence Day speech on August 15, 2025 post Operation Sindoor and 11th in a row.
Incidentally, three days back the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully conducted the maiden flight-tests of Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS) off the coast of Odisha.
According to DRDO, IADWS is a multi-layered air defence system comprising all indigenous Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missiles (QRSAM), Advanced Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missiles and a high-power laser-based Directed Energy Weapon (DEW).
Referring to the Operation Sindoor, General Chauhan said that the armed forces learnt several lessons from the military conflict. “Most of the lessons are under implementation, and some have been implemented.” “The importance of airspace today goes far beyond what we imagined,” bringing in the growing relevance of the 80–100 km near-space range for hypersonic systems and high-altitude platforms.
“At the lower level, the proliferation of drones and precision bombs demands a new coordination paradigm.”