The Induction Ceremony of Akash Weapon System into the Indian Army Air Defence Corps was organised at the Manekshaw Centre at Delhi today. The ceremony was marked by the handing over of the “key of the weapon system” by CMD M/s BDL to General Dalbir Singh, COAS, who thereafter dedicated the weapon system to the Corps of Army Air Defence by handing over the symbolic key to Lt Gen VK Saxena, DG Army Air Defence. The ceremony was attended by senior dignitaries of the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, DRDO and Defence PSUs. The Chief of Army Staff complemented the Armed Forces, DRDO and the DPSUs for the integrated approach to develop and deliver the complex missile system to the nation. He made a special mention about the significance of the induction of such a complex indigenous weapon system towards the Make-in-India initiative launched by the Prime Minister.
The event marks the beginning of the new era for the Army Air Defence towards its drive for modernisation to counter the challenges posed by the enhanced air threat due to rapid improvements in the avionics field. This will also give a boost to the all round capability enhancement and operational effectiveness of the army to meet all the contemporary and emerging challenges of negating the enemy’s air threat.
Akash Missile System is an indigenously developed supersonic short range surface-to-air missile system with the capability to engage a wide variety of aerial threats like aircrafts, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25 km and upto an altitude of 20 Km. The system is capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets and is capable of providing comprehensive short range missile cover to the vulnerable assets in the field force of the Army. It employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and control systems to guide the missile to its targets.
The weapon system has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). While MBDL is the lead integrator for the Army Akash Weapon System, the other major system providers are BEL, ECIL, HAL, TATA Power SED, L&T and others. Besides this, a large number of medium & small scale industries have been actively involved in this prestigious indigenous development program.
With 96% indigenous content, the state-of the art weapon system is a glowing manifestation of the Hon’ble PM’s ‘Make-in-India’ initiative.
