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Amid recurring failure of surface-to-air medium range missile Akash during user associate launches, the DRDO’s announcement on completion of the weapon system’s validation trials has surprised many.
Sources said the missile had failed to deliver results in at least seven times this year and 2012. While the missile had either failed to hit the target or take off three times in 2012, this year, four failures due to technical snags in the missile system had put the DRDO in a fix.
On Wednesday, after a successful trial of the missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast at a very low altitude, the DRDO announced the weapon system to have completed its validation trials.
The announcement, however, came a day after the missile failed to destroy the target - British-made Banshee unmanned aircraft. A defence official, who is associated with this project, on condition of anonymity said a missile should be inducted in the services after it flies flawlessly and hits the target with high accuracy during developmental and user trials.
“But many times, it has surprised the Army and Air Force during the user trials. Some times, it has failed to take off while in a couple of occasions, it has fallen down after taking off. The missile should go under a series of flawless trials before being inducted,” he said.
Even as DRDO claims that Akash is the only system of its kind available globally and several countries have evinced interest in procuring the anti-aircraft weapon, the official said the system had a problem with its radar for which the Army had been denying the weapon’s induction in its forces for years.
Though the development of Akash missile took place during 1990s under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), it was inducted into the Air Force more than two decades later. While on March 3, 2012, the missile was officially inducted into Indian Air Force, it is yet to be inducted into the Army. The indigenously developed missile has a range of 25 km to 30 km and an effective ceiling of 18 km. It is fuelled by solid propellants. The 5.8 metre long sleek missile has a launch weight of 720 kg and can carry warhead of 50 kg.
Akash is expected to play a major role in the air defence systems maintained by the IAF. Besides its capability to destroy cruise missiles, Akash can also be used to neutralise Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, helicopter borne missiles, enemy aircrafts and air-to-surface missiles.
Project Director of Akash G Chandramouli, however, said it was a notable achievement that the entire equipment of sophisticated radars, launchers and ground support systems for IAF have been realised and produced in less than two years. “A path has been created for continuous production of sophisticated missile systems in India,” he said.
Trial Failures Belie DRDO Claim on Akash -The New Indian Express
Sources said the missile had failed to deliver results in at least seven times this year and 2012. While the missile had either failed to hit the target or take off three times in 2012, this year, four failures due to technical snags in the missile system had put the DRDO in a fix.
On Wednesday, after a successful trial of the missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast at a very low altitude, the DRDO announced the weapon system to have completed its validation trials.
The announcement, however, came a day after the missile failed to destroy the target - British-made Banshee unmanned aircraft. A defence official, who is associated with this project, on condition of anonymity said a missile should be inducted in the services after it flies flawlessly and hits the target with high accuracy during developmental and user trials.
“But many times, it has surprised the Army and Air Force during the user trials. Some times, it has failed to take off while in a couple of occasions, it has fallen down after taking off. The missile should go under a series of flawless trials before being inducted,” he said.
Even as DRDO claims that Akash is the only system of its kind available globally and several countries have evinced interest in procuring the anti-aircraft weapon, the official said the system had a problem with its radar for which the Army had been denying the weapon’s induction in its forces for years.
Though the development of Akash missile took place during 1990s under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), it was inducted into the Air Force more than two decades later. While on March 3, 2012, the missile was officially inducted into Indian Air Force, it is yet to be inducted into the Army. The indigenously developed missile has a range of 25 km to 30 km and an effective ceiling of 18 km. It is fuelled by solid propellants. The 5.8 metre long sleek missile has a launch weight of 720 kg and can carry warhead of 50 kg.
Akash is expected to play a major role in the air defence systems maintained by the IAF. Besides its capability to destroy cruise missiles, Akash can also be used to neutralise Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, helicopter borne missiles, enemy aircrafts and air-to-surface missiles.
Project Director of Akash G Chandramouli, however, said it was a notable achievement that the entire equipment of sophisticated radars, launchers and ground support systems for IAF have been realised and produced in less than two years. “A path has been created for continuous production of sophisticated missile systems in India,” he said.
Trial Failures Belie DRDO Claim on Akash -The New Indian Express
