New Delhi: India for the first time exported its indigenously produced Akash air defence missile system to a friendly foreign country.
The Akash missiles can target aircraft, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles up to 45 km away. It is in operational service with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force and has been deployed in eastern Ladakh to deal with threats coming from the air from China.
While the government has remained tight-lipped on the destination, sources indicated the importer country could be Armenia.
Secretary, defence production, Sanjeev Kumar, on Monday in a ceremony in Bengaluru had flagged off the export of first Akash weapon system.
This comes on back of India delivering the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines in April. Separately, France has indicated that it is evaluating the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket systems.
The Akash battery comprises a radar and four launchers, each carrying three missiles. Each battery can track up to 64 targets and attack 12 of them at once. The missile has a 60 kg high-explosive warhead which, with a proximity fuse, detonates when it is near the target. The system is fully mobile.
In 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved export of Akash missiles to friendly nations and created a committee for faster approval of exports.
Akash is country’s important missile system with over 96 per cent indigenisation. The missile was inducted in 2014 in Indian Air Force and in 2015 in Indian Army. Akash was designed and developed by DRDO and produced by BEL/BDL along with other industries.
