According to information published by "The EurAsian Times" on January 22, 2022, it is reported that in December 2021, United Arab Emirates has shown interest to acquire the Indian-made Akash air defense missile system.
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Indian army Akash Launcher units passed through the Rajpath, on the occasion of the 69th Republic Day Parade 2018, in New Delhi on January 26, 2018. (Picture source Wikimedia)
Another media has also reported that other countries in Asia also showed interest to acquire Akash Indian-made air defense missile systems, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Recently, the Indian government has approved the export of Akash. According to a statement published by Indian MoD, the export version of Akash would be different from the system in use by the Indian armed forces.
The Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air defense missile system developed and designed by India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). the Akash missile system has the capability to destroy aerial targets such as fighter jets, cruise missiles, and air-to-surface missiles as well as ballistic missiles.
The development of the Akash missile system was started in 1983 with its first production in 2002. The first trial firings occurred in 1990 with the tenth stated test in September 1998. The missile system was developed based on the Soviet 2K12 (NATO Code SA-6 Gainful) surface-to-air missile defense system. The missile system was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force on July 10, 2015, and in the Indian Army on May 5, 2015.
The launcher unit of the Akash missile can be mounted on truck or armored tracked chassis. The launch station consists of three ready-to-fire Akash missiles mounted on a turntable with a traverse of 360° and elevation from 8° to 75°.
An Akash battery consists of four 3D passive electronically scanned array radars and four launchers with three missiles each, all of which are interlinked. Each battery can track up to 64 targets and attack up to 12 of them. It also has battery level radar known as Rajendra, as well as a battery control center. It can track and attack multiple targets concurrently. A self-destructive device is also integrated into the missile.
The supersonic Akash missile has a range of around 25 km and up to the altitude of 18,000 m. It uses high-energy solid propellant for the booster and ramjet-rocket propulsion for the sustainer phase. Several variants of the missile- Akash MK1, Akash-MK2 with improved accuracy and higher ranges are under development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
