Official Question UPSC 2026
Consider the following statements about Mission Sudarshan Chakra of India: 1. It aims to enhance India's air defence, ballistic missile defence and aerial offensive capabilities. 2. This Mission is being designed to enhance rapid, precise, and powerful defence responses, reinforcing India's strategic autonomy. 3. One of the aims of this Mission is to cover all public places of India by an expanded nationwide security shield by 2035. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Solution & Analysis
Answer: A
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) framework for indigenous strategic systems:
•Statement 1 is Correct: Conceived as a holistic multi-domain security umbrella, Mission Sudarshan Chakra explicitly advances India's air defence, ballistic missile defence (BMD), and aerial offensive capabilities, merging protective shields with deterrent strike ability.
•Statement 2 is Correct: Driven by indigenous projects (such as Project Kusha), the mission heavily integrates AI and space-based early-warning sensors. This network ensures rapid, precise, and powerful threat neutralization, which fundamentally reduces reliance on foreign tech and reinforces India's strategic autonomy.
•Statement 3 is Correct: A paradigm shift in Indian defence doctrine, this 10-year initiative explicitly aims to expand the air-defence umbrella beyond traditional military bases. The stated goal is to bring civilian infrastructure and all public places under a comprehensive nationwide security shield by 2035.
Conclusion: All three statements accurately describe the ambitious scope of the mission.