The Hindu Business Line : Akash missile flight-tested; ready for production

Indigenous missile: The Chief Controller, R&D, DRDO, Dr Prahlada (left) and Akash Project Director, Dr R.R. Panyam, at a press conference in Hyderabad.–

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Jan 8 The public sector companies Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) have formed a consortia, with active participation from private sector to manufacture medium range Akash missiles.

The country’s first, fully indigenous, surface-to-air missile (SAM), has been flight- tested for defence services and is ready for production, said Dr Prahlada, Chief Controller (R&D), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

There is an estimated Rs 5,000-crore opportunity in the next 10 years for the public and private sector companies to meet the projected demands of Akash, he told newspersons here today.

“The initial steps towards procuring an order from the defence forces are in progress and we hope to get an order in the next couple of months. We can deliver the first two squadrons for the IAF in three years”, the top DRDO scientist said.

The Bangalore-headquartered, BEL has been identified as the production agency of various systems. The company has put in place a large team and was interacting with vendors and creating infrastructure, said Mr M.S. Sreedhara, one of the General Managers of BEL.

The Hyderabad-based, BDL which is the main manufacturer of indigenous missiles, is ready to supply Akash missiles in 12-15 months given its preparedness and experience in the area, said Commodore P.K. Samantha, Director (Technical).

About 13 DRDO labs, 300 industries and nearly a 1,000 scientists have been involved in the successful development and testing of Akash, which has taken 21 years. The missile is in the same class of Patriot of the US, Barak of Israel and SAM of UK, said Dr Prahlada.

The Project Director of Akash, Dr R.R. Panyam, said the missile with a range of 25 km and a supersonic speed of 600 metres per second can intercept aerial targets like Cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. Explaining delays in the Akash project, which was originally conceived to be completed in 12 years, Mr Prahlada said, even the US, Israel, UK had taken about 20 years to develop them.