The first rocket and missile defence were developed by Tipu sultan.

Tipu's army was the first to use rockets during the Anglo-Mysore war but there is no record of him using the missile defense systems.

Tipu's army was the first to use rockets during the Anglo-Mysore war but there is no record of him using the missile defense systems.The earliest known account of rockets is from the 6th century AD, where the Chinese used an elementary version of the rocket using firecrackers. These rockets were not used for military purposes. The first instance where rockets were used by the military during a war was in the late 1700s by Tipu Sultan's army in the Anglo-Mysore war in South India. Tipu is believed to have had a brigade of the rocket corps and a rocket research center located at Bangalore (now known as Bengaluru).

There are accounts of rockets being used in the 13th and 15th centuries by the Chinese and Europeans, respectively. But, the one used by Tipu was the most advanced of them all according to the British. Tipu's rockets were made of steel while its casings were made of iron, providing the rocket with maximum penetration capability. The propellant used was gunpowder. However, there are no records of any sort of missile defense system as he was the first to use rockets while his enemies did not possess that kind of technology at that time, which eliminates the possibility for Tipu to need one.