New Delhi: The BJP-led government penchant – and the Indian military brass's support – for christening platforms, projects, formations and doctrines with Hindu mythological names intended to evoke grandeur and a continuing sense of epic valour, at times also tend to breed confusion.

The latest such example is the repeated use of ‘Sudarshan Chakra,’ Lord Vishnu’s celestial discus – meant to symbolise speed, precision, and the destruction of evil – which has blurred the line between an imported air-defence system and a planned indigenous blanket shield against aerial threats, slated for 2035.

The first Sudarshan Chakra

As we know, the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ already refers to the five Russian S-400 ‘Triumf’ air-defence systems India acquired in October 2018 for an estimated $5.43 billion. Three were commissioned from 2021 onwards, with the remaining two slated for delivery next year.

This Sudarshan Chakra was actively deployed during Operation Sindoor across northern and western India as part of the air-defence grid, successfully intercepting incoming threats and reportedly downing five Pakistan Air Force fighters. along with a large military surveillance platform at ranges of around 300 km inside neighbouring enemy territory.

Announcing this development on August 9, more than three months after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire which 'paused' Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh described it as the longest recorded surface-to-air kill. Other officials praised the S-400 for living up to its ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ name, citing its unerring precision, formidable speed, and ability to strike multiple targets, much like Vishnu’s divine discus, which, the legend goes, never missed and always returned unerringly to its master.

After Operation Sindoor, the S-400 has, for many in government and the military, transcended mere technology to acquire the near-mythical aura of an ancient weapon reborn in the 21st century, enhanced with technical wizardry. It is celebrated not simply as a missile system but as an ‘implacable shield,’ evoking the divine armour that repelled evil and protected 'Bharat'.

Now, take two

Meanwhile, the latest ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address as an indigenously developed, multi-layered security shield, slated for completion by 2035, to protect strategic, civilian, and religious sites nationwide.

Drawing liberally from mythology, he added that this conceptual Sudarshan Chakra would not only counter terrorist attacks but also strike back at the perpetrators. Official sources later elaborated that the PM's Mission Sudarshan Chakra will integrate land-, sea-, and space-based defences, encompassing the S-400 Sudarshan Chakra, the ongoing Ballistic Missile Defence network, and the secretive Project Kusha, also known as the Extended Range Air Defence System (ERADS).

The Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO's) top secret Project Kusha, named after one of Lord Rama’s twin sons, Kusha, echoes his mythological role as a guardian. The top-secret Kusha is being designed as a protective shield to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, incoming cruise and potentially even ballistic missiles.

The ambitious Sudarshan Chakra project, akin to Israel’s and the US’s multi-tiered ‘Iron’ and ‘Golden Dome’ space-to-ground defence grids, is also expected to integrate numerous other local air-defence assets, including the upgraded Akash Prime system, all of which performed efficiently during Op Sindoor.

A cross-section of veterans and analysts said that this dual use of the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ moniker not only creates a ‘semantic muddle’ but also blurs operational understanding, making it unclear whether one means the existing S-400 missile system or the proposed indigenous, broader air-defence network. “The overlap confuses soldiers and the public alike,” said a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) veteran. It dilutes clarity between a deployed capability and an aspirational project expected to mature over the next decade, he said, declining to be named.

Other military veterans, speaking anonymously, urged the defence establishment to adopt a ‘disciplined nomenclature’ regimen. One suggested officially distinguishing the two Sudarshan Chakra systems as the S-400 Sudarshan Chakra and the Operation Sudarshan Shield to avoid confusion.

Actually, there are three

The confusion, however, deepens: ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ is not only the name of a Russian missile system and a proposed indigenous air-defence network, but also the designation of the Indian Army’s XXI Corps, headquartered at Bhopal.

The youngest of the Army’s three Strike Corps, that constitute its offensive punch into enemy territory, particularly along the western front against Pakistan, XXI corps embodies mobility and concentrated firepower – of armoured divisions, mechanised infantry and artillery.

Yet, despite its formidable structure and mythic name, it has largely remained a deterrent formation, rehearsing operational plans rather than unleashing its full might—an ever-ready sword still sheathed in Sudarshan Chakra symbolism.

Taking all this into account, the irony in naming a weapon system, the proposed anti-missile shield, and an Army corps ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ is unmistakable: a weapon once synonymous with divine precision now exists in triplicate across India’s military lexicon. One Sudarshan Chakra is a tried and tested Russian air-defence system, another largely exists as PowerPoint slides on missile defence, and the third is an Army corps that has yet to see battle.

In many ways, the saga of the three Sudarshan Chakras not only highlights India’s reverence for Hindu mythology, but also the defence establishment’s willingness to embrace politically-driven, muddled nomenclature. What mythologically symbolised clarity and precision has, in India’s military, become an example of branding gone astray – spawning confusion through triplication, much like a typical government directive or a railway reservation slip in times gone by.

Ultimately, it’s also obvious that without disciplined nomenclature, even the most exalted symbols of India's mythic or actual past can lose their clarity, creating confusion where accuracy is most needed

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