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Akash missile

Akash
Akash SAM.jpg
Akash missile being test fired from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha
Type Mobile Surface-to-air missile system
Place of origin India
Service history
In service 2009-present
Used by Indian Army
Indian Air Force
Production history
Designer DRDO
Manufacturer Ordnance Factories Board
Bharat Dynamics
Bharat Electronics
Produced 2009-present
Number built 3000 missiles
Specifications
Weight 720 kg (1,590 lb)
Length 578 cm (228 in)
Diameter 35 cm (14 in)

Warhead High-explosive, pre-fragmented warhead
Warhead weight 60 kg (130 lb)
Detonation
mechanism
RF proximity fuse

Propellant integral rocket motor/ramjet booster and sustainer motor
Operational
range
30 km (19 mi)
Flight ceiling 18 km (59,000 ft)
Speed Mach 2.5
Guidance
system
Command guidance

Akash (Sanskrit: आकाश Ākāśa "Sky") is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defense system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for Missile Systems, Ordnance Factories Board and Bharat Electronics (BEL) for other Systems in India. The missile system can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at altitudes up to 18,000 m. It has the capability to "neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles" as well as ballistic missiles. It is in operational service with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

An Akash battery comprises a single Rajendra 3D passive electronically scanned array radar 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. The missile has a 60 kg (130 lb) high-explosive, pre-fragmented warhead with a proximity fuse. The Akash system is fully mobile and capable of protecting a moving convoy of vehicles. The launch platform has been integrated with both wheeled and tracked vehicles. While the Akash system has primarily been designed as an air defence SAM, it also has been tested in a missile defense role. The system provides air defence missile coverage for an area of 2,000 km². The Indian military's combined orders of the Akash, including radar systems (WLR and Surveillance), have a total worth of 23,300 crore (US$4 billion).

Mark-I
The first test flight of Akash missile was conducted in 1990, with development flights up to March 1997.


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