Akash missile is ready for production, induction

BY: The Indian Express Limited.

The research effort of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has begun showing rich dividends.

Senior officials in DRDO told FE, “The weapon system for the Akash missile is now ready for production and induction. This is a major milestone for DRDO and its industry partners. It is also an essential step towards indigenously developing more complex air defence weapons for the future.”

After the first order of the Akash missile system from the IAF, the DRDO has managed to secure a bigger order from the Army, taking the total volume of business to Rs 27,000 crore. The research organisation has been long under fire for having sunk large amounts of funds into research projects.

The Army has ordered 12 batteries of Akash anti-aircraft missiles. Each Akash battery has three launcher vehicles, a radar vehicle and several support vehicles. Each launcher is self propelled, carrying four missiles, and costs Rs 10 crore. Each search radar, which can support several batteries, costs Rs 40 crore and each battery has a weapon guidance radar, which costs Rs 50 crore.

While the Akash is tagged as the most expensive high-tech system ever developed, and put into service, by DRDO, senior officials of the organistion said, “Only around Rs 600 crore was invested in the R&D of the system but the volume of the business being generated is far more than what was expected.”

About 300 industries in public and private sectors contribute to the production of the weapon system. Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) will be the system integrator and nodal production agency for the Akash-Army variant.

Concurrent engineering practices have been adopted to minimize the learning curve in production. The vendors have been carefully chosen for their familiarity with critical technologies, manpower and quality management systems.

Each 701 kg/£1,543 Akash missile has a 60 kg/£132 warhead, a range of 27 km and can kit targets as high as 15,800 metre/49,000 feet, or as low as 20 metre. Akash is modeled on the older, but successful, Russian SA-6 system, and is meant to replace some very old Russian air defence systems India is still using. The country wants to build a version of Akash for use on ships, and is already looking into a longer range (60 km) version.

The combined order for Akash missile systems, is seen as a major victory for the country’s indigenous R&D efforts. In addition to the volume of business being…generated within the country, these orders will also create more jobs and help the industry to enhance technology.