Akash - New generation ( IAST:

Ākāśa Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan lan ...

''"Sky"'') abbreviated as Akash-NG is a medium-range mobile

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

defense system developed by the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) ( IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India ...

(DRDO) and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics. Private sector firm Electropneumatics and Hydraulics India is involved in Development cum Production Partner programme. This missile is a successor to the

Akash Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan la ...

and Akash-1S series of missiles with improvements such as a Dual-pulse solid rocket motor, a canisterised launcher and an AESA Multifunction targeting radar to improve its probability of kill with a smaller ground operations and logistics footprint. The missile uses an Ku-band Active radar seeker which was revealed to the public during Aero India 2021.

Development & Description

The development of the Akash-NG (New Generation) was approved in September 2016 with a funding of . Akash-NG will have an improved reaction time and higher level of protection against saturation attacks. The second stage uses dual-pulse solid rocket motor which is lighter compare to air-breathing ramjet engine present in the earlier Akash and Akash-1S missiles. It helps in reducing the weight and footprint of the platform. An

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled array antenna in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the an ...

Multi-Function Radar (MFR) improves the effectiveness of the missile against targets with low

radar cross-section Radar cross-section (RCS), also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy back to the source. ...

whereas optical

proximity fuze A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a fuze that detonates an explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such as planes, missiles, ships at sea, an ...

provides excellent anti-electromagnetic interference capability. As per Electropneumatics and Hydraulics India, Akash NG has range of 70 km and can operate upto an elevation of 20° to 70° with an azimuth of 360°. Two canister missile stacks take 10 minutes to reload. From target acquisition by command-and-control unit, the system can fire one missile within 10 seconds and in 20 seconds a salvo of three missiles can be fired. The deployment time is less than 20 minutes between transportation and ready-to-fire mode.

Testing

*Maiden Test :

successfully conducted the first test of the missile on 25 January 2021 from Launching Complex - III at the Integrated Test Range near Chandipur,

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

at about 2:30 pm against an electronic target. *2nd Test :

and

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

successfully conducted the 2nd test of the missile on 21 July 2021 from Launching Complex - III at the Integrated Test Range near Chandipur, Odisha at about 12:45 PM against an electronic target. *3rd Test :

has successfully test-fired the Akash-NG surface-to-air missile air defence system off the coast of Odisha in

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It ...

at 11:45am IST on 23rd July, 2021. The test was carried out amidst inclement weather conditions proving the all-weather capability of the weapon system. The flight test has validated the functioning of complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed RF Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system. *4th Test : Successful test firing at Pokhran on 26th April 2022

Operators

; *

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

— Planned *

— Planned

References

{{Indian missiles Surface-to-air missiles of India Post–Cold War weapons of India Defence Research and Development Organisation Jannes.com

Development & Description

Testing

Operators

See also

References