Surface-to-air Akash missile tested successfully

Balasore (Odisha): Boosting its air defence shield and re-validating operational efficacy, India on Thursday test-fired successfully its indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore.

"The user-specific trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence exercises, was successful," said a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the Akash missile project.

To re-validate the technology and operational efficacy of the missile, defence forces conducted the trial with logistic support provided by the ITR, the official said. The Akash weapon system was inducted into the armed forces in 2008.

The missile, which has a strike range of 25 km with a warhead of 60 kgs, was test fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-III of the ITR at about 1108 hours, defence sources said.

"During the trial, the missile was aimed at intercepting a floating object supported by a pilotless target aircraft, flown from launch complex-II, at a definite altitude over the sea," the sources said.

Akash, an anti-aircraft defence system, can simultaneously engage several targets with Rajendra radar developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a DRDO laboratory in Bangalore.

Rajendra is a 'passive phased array radar'. It is a multifunction radar, capable of tracking as many as 64 targets and controlling up to 12 missiles simultaneously. Rajendra does the surveillance, tracks the target, acquires it and guides the missile towards it.

The development of Akash missile took place during 1990s under the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and after many trials, it was inducted into the armed forces. An air-force version of the Akash missile has also been developed by the DRDO.

Defence experts have compared Akash missile system with the American MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system. They claim that similar to the MIM-104, the Akash is capable of neutralising aerial targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles.