Akash Missile, a Success Story of ‘Make in India’

[Zarvan]

The first indigenously built missile air defence system has been inducted into IAF

The Akash Missile System, for which Navratna defence public sector undertaking Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) is the nodal agency and supplies major sub systems, was recently inducted into the Indian Air Force.

Akash has been termed a great success story of the Make in India initiative. Barring a few electronic components, every bit of Akash has the Made in India tag. Almost 92 per cent of the total cost of inputs is sourced within India.

“Akash is the first indigenously built missile air defence system in our country, which has been designed and developed by the DRDO. BEL is the lead integrator of the Akash Missile System for the Indian Air Force,” said an official with BEL.

Core Missile System

The indigenously developed supersonic surface-to-air missile Akash, capable of targeting enemy helicopters, aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from a range of 25 km, is one of the five core missile systems of the integrated guided missile development programme, launched by the DRDO in 1984.

The missiles are meant to replace the ones that were inducted in 1970s.

The official added that BEL adopted a concurrent engineering and production model with close co-operation of all the DRDO laboratories and other industry partners. The order for the first two squadrons to Air Force stations Gwalior and Pune were delivered on time.

BEL got a repeat order from the IAF for six more squadrons of AMS in December 2010. The official added that the existing orders are in the process of being executed. Asked if the IAF had placed additional procurement orders, the official said:

“Additional orders may be placed by the IAF based on their requirements, though there is no confirmation as yet.”

Research and development has been the main focus area for increasing indigenisation and value addition in BEL’s products and systems. The total expenditure on R&D as a percentage of turnover during the year was 8.2 per cent, one of the highest among defence public sector undertakings. The company has also filed for 9 patents.

Indigenization is Key

Among the significant orders executed during 2014-15 is the missile system for the IAF and the Indian Army, passive night vision devices, tactical control radar, ship-borne electronic warfare systems, hull-mounted sonar, fire control systems, missile warning system and combat management system.

The company said as part of the Make in India initiative, about 80 per cent of the sales turnover is from indigenously developed technologies.

Analysts have pointed out that the competitive risk for BEL remains low over the next few years from the private sector, as it remains a leader in radar, weapons systems and electronic warfare.

As of April 1, 2015, BEL had an order book of around ₹22,100 crore.

Sales rise 8.43%

BEL ended the financial year 2014-15 by registering sales turnover of ₹6,694.57 crore, a growth of 8.43 per cent over the previous year’s turnover of ₹6,174.23 crore. BEL achieved exports worth $57.85 million in 2014-15, registering a growth of 37.7 per cent over the previous year’s $42 million.

Analysts added that fast track clearances and increase in share of electronics in defence equipment are expected to lead to 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the defence electronics industry.

Akash, a success story of ‘Make in India’ : The Hindu Business Line - Mobile edition

 

[yolo2016]

Export variant?

. I ask because we would love to sell to philippines, Vietnam and countries in SCS, but weapons are expensive.

 

[Aurangzeb29]

Very good, you got the Akash Missile now all you need is a "A Cash Missile"- (I was going to say Cash Cow Missile but didnt want to get off on the wrong foot)

Last time i checked still 180 million Indians are below the poverty line, i mean for heavens sake
thats the same number as the entire population of Pakistan.

We both got Nukes, we can both destroy each other. This century is the time to destroy corruption
in our countries and to invest in our people.

 

[sharma1111]

India does not need Akash missile as much as it needs "A Cash Missile"- wasting money stockpiling this junk.

Last time i checked 180 million Indians are below the poverty line, i mean for heavens sake
thats the same number as the entire population of Pakistan.

We both got Nukes, we can both destroy each other. This century is the time to destroy corruption
in our countries and to invest in our people.

Making a SAM is not an easy task. India spends less of its budget on defence as compared to Pakistan. India is investing money in every field. We are not a security revisionist state

 

[axisofevil]

Very good, you got the Akash Missile now all you need is a "A Cash Missile"- (I was going to say Cash Cow Missile but didnt want to get off on the wrong foot)

Last time i checked still 180 million Indians are below the poverty line, i mean for heavens sake
thats the same number as the entire population of Pakistan.

We both got Nukes, we can both destroy each other. This century is the time to destroy corruption
in our countries and to invest in our people.

Yea I guess so...but your ISI continues to use terror as a tool. Not to mention corruption which eats away our society.


BTW Mogul Empire never controlled that much land. India is the tale of the land that got away from being completely Islamicized by Arabs. It is a testament to our ppl......fighters in every sense of the word. As other nations fell to the sword and were forcefully converted, forever forgetting their past history........India never gave up.........not bad for a bunch of backward, idol worshippers. Allah couldn't defeat us......

 

[Aurangzeb29]

Yea I guess so...but your ISI continues to use terror as a tool. Not to mention corruption which eats away our society.


BTW Mogul Empire never controlled that much land. India was the tale of the land that got away from being completely Islamicized by Arabs. It is a testament to our ppl......fighters in every sense of the word. As other nations fell to the sword and were forcefully converted, forever forgetting their past history........India never gave up.........not bad for a bunch of backward, idol worshippers. Allah couldn't defeat us......

Surely your not blaming Indian corruption on ISI ? That would be as stupid as me blaming Pakistani corruption on RAW ?

No trust me on this... both Pakistan and India are quite capable of home-grown Corrupt Politicians without any incentive from outside.

As for Mogul Empire...while the actual borders of the Empire shifted over the centuries depending on which Sultan was in power, the fact remains that they didnt just rule they DOMINATED that arena... and if they had wanted to convert every Hindu by the sword they had all the Military, Political and Economic resources to do so, but they did not do so for various reasons, some of them based on mercy and compassion, and others on crude politics, economics, and sheer practicality.

As for your saying "Allah could not defeat us", i would prefer if we keep religion out of this discussion, but just for your information, Allah (swt) actually replied when the Idol Worshippers of old said something similiar, the Creator of the Universe said:

And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers ?
[The Holy Koran, Chapter 10: verse 99]

 

[axisofevil]

Surely your not blaming Indian corruption on ISI ? That would be as stupid as me blaming Pakistani corruption on RAW ?

No trust me on this... both Pakistan and India are quite capable of home-grown Corrupt Politicians without any incentive from outside.

As for Mogul Empire...while the actual borders of the Empire shifted over the centuries depending on which Sultan was in power, the fact remains that they didnt just rule they DOMINATED that arena... and if they had wanted to convert every Hindu by the sword they had all the Military, Political and Economic resources to do so, but they did not do so for various reasons, some of them based on mercy and compassion, and others on crude politics, economics, and sheer practicality.


As for your saying "Allah could not defeat us", i would prefer if we keep religion out of this discussion, but just for your information, Allah (swt) actually replied when the Idol Worshippers of old said something similiar, the Creator of the Universe said:

And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers ?
[The Holy Koran, Chapter 10: verse 99]

Of course not....ISI may utilize corruption but i was referring to two separate issues. As for the mughals dominating......not so. India was in a constant flux of warfare for 800 yrs. Whom, Sikhs, Maratha's Vijayanagar, Kerala, etc.......were fighting at some point or another.




Wrong again buddy, Muslims kings couldn't simply convert everybody with a tiny force. They had to work with Hindus in order to achieve their objectives slowly. It was a slow process in South Asia due to the massive population and small numbers of the invading forces.


You guys and your concept or intrepetation of mercy and compassion.......brainwashed fools.. you know even Hitler and Genghis Khan thought they were doing great deeds when they slaughtered the innocent....

 

[Stephen Cohen]

Very good, you got the Akash Missile now all you need is a "A Cash Missile"- (I was going to say Cash Cow Missile but didnt want to get off on the wrong foot)

Last time i checked still 180 million Indians are below the poverty line, i mean for heavens sake
thats the same number as the entire population of Pakistan.

We both got Nukes, we can both destroy each other. This century is the time to destroy corruption
in our countries and to invest in our people.

NO we are NOT INTERESTED in your advice

 

[Water Car Engineer]

Akash system is success, now they need to get Nag and Astra going.. This seems to be in reach.

 

[gslv mk3]

Last time i checked still 180 million Indians are below the poverty line, i mean for heavens sake
thats the same number as the entire population of Pakistan.

Last time I checked,Pakistan had a higher percentage of illiterate and undernourished population than India.As for India,its denfence spending is very low- a mere 1.8 % of GDP ( or 6.5% of national budget expenditure )on defense.FYI Pakistan which spends 3% of its GDP on defense.

If you want to compare absolute numbers,Indian government (state & union) spend $ 65 billion on education sector-that's more the entire budget expenditure of Pakistan.

 

[sharma1111]

Akash system is success, now they need to get Nag and Astra going.. This seems to be in reach.

can they speed up Akash 2.0 with RCI made seeker. 37-40 KM range is necessary
There is also a need to induct QRSAM which should be mix derivative of Trishul+ Astra

 

[axisofevil]

I hope the vehicles carrying these missiles accommodate a dozen or so at a time.....that will give it a dynamic twist.

 

[Arun Salian]

Is there any plan to enhance the range ?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Is there any plan to enhance the range ?

Akash Mk.2 has augmented range, being tested now.

 

[desimorty]

We both got Nukes, we can both destroy each other. This century is the time to destroy corruption
in our countries and to invest in our people.

Source: Akash Missile, a Success Story of ‘Make in India’

India never had money before for a decent military. It was just large and based on manpower, ie defensive military with limited scope.
With a new century and a new budget, they require equipment, and they can't just buy everything, especially builk defence merch. Akash is needed. As for the military budget, well it takes into consideration the economy.
Pakistan has military HALF the size of India's. 1;2 ratio.
Yet India is 7 times bigger and just as big economically.
The reason for the growing military budget and capability is because of the economy. Same reason for large infrastructure investment.