Akash Surface-To-Air Missile:
Indian “Iron-Dome” Akash Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) is competing against Chinese-made Sky Dragon-50 air defense systems to secure an order from Brazil.
- Akash Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) is a Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system to protect vulnerable areas and vulnerable points from air attacks.
- It was indigenously designed and developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL).
- It is designed to protect vulnerable areas from multifarious air threats.
- 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.
- It is 5.8 m long, has a diameter of 350 mm and a wingspan of 1,105mm.
- It has a launch weight of 720 kg.
- The missile can fly at a speed of up to Mach 2.5 and has a height ceiling of 18 km.
- It can target aircraft up to 45 km away.
- The most important element of the Akash SAM system battery is its high-power, multi-function Rajendra phased array radar.
