Mission Sudarshan Chakra: Army to procure AK-630 air defence guns; to be deployed along Pakistan border

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has issued a tender to procure AK-630 air defence guns from the state-owned Advanced Weapon and Equipment India Ltd (AWEIL) under Mission Sudarshan Chakra, an ambitious national security initiative announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address.

“Indian Army Air Defence has floated an RFP (Request for Proposal) for the procurement of six AK-630 Air Defence Gun Systems with AWEIL,” defence officials told ANI. “The system sought is a 30mm multi-barrel mobile air defence gun system with a high rate of fire.”

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According to the officials, the weapon would be "utilised to thwart the threat from URAM (Unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket, artillery and mortar) and for the protection of key population centres and centres of faith in close proximity to the international border and Line of Control (with Pakistan).”

The gun system would be mounted on a trailer and towed by a high mobility vehicle, with an effective range of up to 4 km and a cyclic rate of fire of up to 3,000 rounds per minute. Detection and engagement would be achieved through an all-weather Electro-Optical Fire Control system.

During the recent cross-border clashes in May, Pakistan had carried out direct attacks on civilians and religious buildings in border states including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Along with the Indian Air Force, the army’s air defence played a key role in thwarting the attacks.

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Intended to be on the lines of Israel’s famed Iron Dome, Mission Sudarshan Chakra is described is India’s plan to create a "comprehensive, multi-layered, indigenous security shield by 2035, integrating surveillance, cyber security, and air defence systems to protect key installations from various enemy attacks."

The mission also aims to provide both a defensive barrier and a potential offensive capability, aligning with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative to enhance self-reliance in defence technology.