MISSION SUDARSHAN CHAKRA India buys high-firing air defence guns

 

 

IN A step towards providing protection to population centres and centres of faith close to the border with Pakistan, the Indian Army has issued a tender to buy six AK-630 30mm guns from a State-owned firm, which is being seen as one of the pillars of the Mission Sudarshan Chakra. The tender for buying the air defence system has been issued as part of lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor, where the Pakistan Army carried out direct attacks on civilians and religious buildings in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Mission Sudarshan Chakra 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.

 

Launched on India’s Independence Day in 2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mission 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. Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Friday had warned Pakistan against terrorist activities in India and asserted that India would not show any restraint in Operation Sindoor 2.0. “Indian Army Air Defence has floated an RFP for the procurement of six AK630 Air Defence Gun Systems* with Advanced Weapon and Equipment India Ltd (AWEIL). The system sought is a 30mm multi-barrel mobile air defence gun system with a high rate of fire,” defence officials told ANI.

 

The gun system will be mounted on a trailer and towed by a high mobility vehicle. “AK630 will be utilised to thwart the threat from URAM (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) and will be used for the protection of key population centres and Centres of Faith* in close proximity to the international border and Line of Control, they said. The Gun systems will have a range of up upto 4km* with a cyclic rate of fire of up upto 3000 rounds per minute. The system will also form one of the essential pillars of the Sudarshan Chakra shield being developed and will be *integrated in the overall air defence architecture. The Indian Army’s Army Air Defence played a key role in thwarting Pakistani aerial attacks using drones and aircraft.