  We show, by using an extensive sample of viable supersymmetric models as
templates, that indirect detection of dark matter through gamma rays may have a
large potential for identifying the nature of dark matter. This is in
particular true also for models that give too weak dark matter-nucleon
scattering cross sections to be probed by present and planned direct detection
experiments. Also models with a mass scale too high to be accessible at CERN's
LHC accelerator may show up in next-generation imaging Cherenkov telescope
arrays. Based on our our findings, we therefore suggest to view indirect
searches as genuine particle physics experiments, complementing other
strategies to probe so far unknown regions in the parameter space of e.g.
supersymmetric models, and propose a new approach that would make use of
telescopes dedicated for dark matter searches. As a concrete example for the
potential of such an approach, we consider an array of imaging air Cherenkov
telescopes, the Dark Matter Array (DMA), and show that such an experiment could
extend present-day limits by several orders of magnitude, reaching a large
class of models that would remain undetected in both direct detection
experiments and searches at the LHC. In addition, in a sizable part of the
parameter space, signals from more than one type of dark matter detection
experiment would be possible, something that may eventually be necessary in
order to identify the dark matter candidate.
