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Editorial

Indian Army Inducts Indigenously-developed Surface-to-Air-Missile Akash

Published: May 2015

New Delhi. Indian Army inducted indigenously-developed surface-to-air-missile Akash into the Army Air Defence Corps at a glittering ceremony here May 5.

The Induction Ceremony was marked by the handing over of the “key of the weapon system” by Bharat Dynamics Ltd CMD to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Dalbir Singh. The COAS later dedicated the weapon system to the Corps of Army Air Defence by handing over the symbolic key to Lt Gen VK Saxena, Director General, Army Air Defence.

On this occasion, General Singh complemented the Armed Forces, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the DPSUs for the integrated approach to develop and deliver the complex missile system to the nation. He also made a special mention about the significance of the induction of such a complex indigenous weapon system towards the Make in India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ceremony was attended by senior dignitaries of the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, DRDO and Defence PSUs.

The event marks the beginning of the new era for the Army Air Defence towards its drive for modernisation to counter the challenges posed by the enhanced air threat due to rapid improvements in the avionics field. This will also give a boost to the all round capability enhancement and operational effectiveness of the Army to meet all the contemporary and emerging challenges of negating the enemy’s air threat.

Akash is an indigenously developed supersonic short range surface-to-air missile system with the capability to engage a wide variety of aerial threats like aircrafts, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25 km and an altitude of 20 km. The system is capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets and of providing comprehensive short range missile cover to the vulnerable assets in the field force of the Army. It employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and control systems to guide the missile to its targets.

The weapon system has been designed and developed by the DRDO. While MBDL is the lead integrator for the Army’s Akash Weapon System, the other major system providers are BEL, ECIL, HAL, TATA Power SED, L&T etc. Besides this, a large number of medium & small scale industries have been actively involved in this prestigious indigenous development programme.

With 96 per cent indigenous content, the state-of-the-art weapon system is a growing manifestation of the Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative.

Akash, which was launched more than three decades ago by DRDO in 1984, is one of the five core missile systems of the integrated guided missile development programme.