Akash Series Surface to Air Missile System
- Thread starter Aashish
- Start date
Don't see the point in doing that. The older missiles have lower shelf life and by the time a decision is made to upgrade them with seekers, it will be time to replace them. The missile has a shelf life of only 10 years and CAG is going around saying that improper storage has reduced life to just 7 years.
Hopefully, pending missile deliveries for the first set of orders (8 squadrons and 2 regiments) are upgraded with a seeker instead.
IAF alone has 20+ squadrons of older S125 SAM systems across its installations, 5-6 Squadrons of Osa , Igla MANPADS in legacy systems.
It has atleast 6 active Akash Squadrons (i am not sure if the last two are active from the total order of 8).
6 more Akash 1S will primarily go into replacing the S125 units. And then IAF also has MR SAM coming, that should replace the remaining S125 units.
For Osa replacement, maybe an Airforce version of QR SAM in future.
I think the current orders will take care of all replacements, more or less.
IA has 12 regiments of Kub, so 5 regiments of MRSAM and 6 regiments of Akash will take care of that. Perhaps a regiment or two extra for the MRSAM/Akash later on.
Hundreds of Strelas and a few dozen Osas will be replaced by 8 regiments of QRSAM.
IAF has 25-30 squadrons of S-125 Pechora. So that's 9 squadrons of MRSAM and 14 squadrons of Akash. Leaves 7 squadrons for Akash Mk2.
8 squadrons of Osas are being replaced by 9 squadrons of SPYDER-SR. So that's done and dusted.
As for extras:
We will need a SPYDER equivalent to protect the S-400 and XRSAM, and also the BMD.
Two new Mountain Strike Corps may require some extra regiments of MRSAM and Akash.
Why India needs the Akash missile
September 08, 2017
Amongst the holiest cows in our cow-loving land is the notion of defence indigenisation -- which means designing, developing, and manufacturing our own weapons and defence systems, as major powers all do for strategic and economic reasons.
Successive Indian governments, especially the present one, have paid lip service to indigenisation in public and in Parliament.
But to illustrate how much more needs to be done, there is the example of the Akash missile system, which already defends Indian airspace.
The Akash consists of a Rohini radar that detects incoming aircraft at ranges out to 120 km and relays the information to a command post.
This categorises and priorities the threats and orders a well-positioned missile launcher to shoot down specified targets.
Meanwhile, a 'command guidance' radar locks onto the target and guides one or more missiles onto the aircraft.
The Akash has already demonstrated it can shoot down enemy aircraft, flying at treetop height, at ranges out to 25 km.
The simple and robust Akash was designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
The IGMDP was initiated in 1983 under A P J Abdul Kalam when it became apparent that international technology denial regimes left India with no choice but to build its own missile systems by developing sophisticated technologies such as rocket propulsion and inertial navigation.
The highly successful project birthed the Prithvi and Agni ballistic missiles that underpin India's land-based nuclear deterrent; the Nag anti-tank guided missile and the Akash missile.
While ballistic missiles are privileged children whose acquisition is guided by strategic considerations, and the Nag is only now coming to fruition, the defence ministry is sorely mistreating the Akash.
Consider the missile production ecosystem that the Akash has created.
After the DRDO developed the Akash's foundational technologies, two defence public sector undertakings -- Bharat Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd -- have functioned as 'systems integrators' that put the entire system together.
Numerous private sector companies, notably Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division) and Larsen & Toubro, have developed crucial sub-systems like the missile launchers; while 330 smaller private firms feed into the Akash's production as Tier-2 and Tier-3 vendors.
Besides building the Akash systems that are already operationally deployed on the borders, these companies constitute a technology ecosystem that continuously upgrade the existing system and will develop the next generation of missiles.
This is the first time such a production ecosystem has been built for an indigenous missile and nurturing such an ecosystem is an obvious national interest.
But production ecosystems are nurtured with production orders.
Today, the Akash production chain stands empty as the defence ministry haggles with BEL over the cost of its next order.
Consequently, the induction of another eight Akash squadrons is held up by the ministry's insistence that the Akash must match international prices.
There is neither understanding nor acknowledgement of the difficulties that indigenous manufacturers face, nor of the benefits of an indigenous system.
From the start, the air force pooh-poohed the Akash, pressing instead for foreign-built missile systems whose complex electronics could easily be sabotaged with a kill switch that renders it ineffective against certain aircraft.
In repeated trials up to 2004, the air force rejected the Akash for specious reasons, even as the missile repeatedly struck its targets.
Eventually, in an incident in 2004 that has gone into DRDO folklore, the Akash project director, Dr Prahlada, readied the missile for a final do-or-die attempt to demonstrate its accuracy.
A Nishant drone was flown, trailing a target sleeve that the Akash was to engage. But then, just as the missile was readying to fire, the sleeve detached itself from the Nishant and floated to the ground.
With the air force evaluation team ready to declare the trial a failure and doom the Akash to oblivion, Dr Prahlada boldly designated the Nishant drone as the target.
The Akash missile slammed into the tiny Nishant 20 kilometres away, utterly destroying the Rs 1.5 crore drone.
Dr Prahlada had to field audit objections for years, but the Akash had proved its effectiveness against a target far smaller than a combat aircraft.
Why should the military buy more Akash even if it costs more than equivalent foreign systems?
There are at least five reasons.
First, technology is generational and the current Akash will inevitably birth a more capable version.
Already, the DRDO is developing a seeker head on a budget of just Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) that will make the Akash more accurate and capable of longer ranges.
Second, producing the Akash in India provides employment, a key aim of the Make in India programme.
Third, buying Indian creates a multiplier effect at multiple levels of our economy, whereas buying a system from abroad puts the money into another economy altogether.
Every company involved in defence production, every employee, is paying direct and indirect taxes into the economy.
Fourth, facilitating the development of defence systems in India creates strategic intellectual property; the government needs to subsidise IP creation with orders, as is done by the countries from which India routinely buys.
Fifth, Indian defence firms cannot be directly compared with foreign industry because the cost of doing business in India, especially working capital costs, are significantly higher -- 14 to 15 per cent here compared to 2 per cent abroad.
Add to that the 33 per cent corporate tax levied on Indian defence firms and the cost of equivalent Indian products works out at least 30 per cent higher than an identical product built abroad.
That is why the General Financial Regulations mandate that, in government procurement, if a product with 50 per cent value addition in India is up to 20 per cent more costly than an equivalent foreign product, the Indian vendor must be given the contract at the lowest bid price.
If the foreign vendor bids Rs 100 and the Indian vendor quotes between Rs 100 and Rs 120, the Indian vendor must get the option to supply at Rs 100.
For defence products, with their strategic dimension, the Indian vendor must be given the option to supply at a rate that is up to 20 per cent higher.
Ordering more Akash systems is essential for the Indian defence industry.
This is the first time an entirely Indian designed, developed, and manufactured product is being deployed in numbers.
The Akash experience would teach us a great deal about the dynamics of mass production, maintenance and spares support and upgrading it to the next level.
And it would constitute a clarion call that the government is serious about indigenisation.
September 08, 2017
Amongst the holiest cows in our cow-loving land is the notion of defence indigenisation -- which means designing, developing, and manufacturing our own weapons and defence systems, as major powers all do for strategic and economic reasons.
Successive Indian governments, especially the present one, have paid lip service to indigenisation in public and in Parliament.
But to illustrate how much more needs to be done, there is the example of the Akash missile system, which already defends Indian airspace.
The Akash consists of a Rohini radar that detects incoming aircraft at ranges out to 120 km and relays the information to a command post.
This categorises and priorities the threats and orders a well-positioned missile launcher to shoot down specified targets.
Meanwhile, a 'command guidance' radar locks onto the target and guides one or more missiles onto the aircraft.
The Akash has already demonstrated it can shoot down enemy aircraft, flying at treetop height, at ranges out to 25 km.
The simple and robust Akash was designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
The IGMDP was initiated in 1983 under A P J Abdul Kalam when it became apparent that international technology denial regimes left India with no choice but to build its own missile systems by developing sophisticated technologies such as rocket propulsion and inertial navigation.
The highly successful project birthed the Prithvi and Agni ballistic missiles that underpin India's land-based nuclear deterrent; the Nag anti-tank guided missile and the Akash missile.
While ballistic missiles are privileged children whose acquisition is guided by strategic considerations, and the Nag is only now coming to fruition, the defence ministry is sorely mistreating the Akash.
Consider the missile production ecosystem that the Akash has created.
After the DRDO developed the Akash's foundational technologies, two defence public sector undertakings -- Bharat Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd -- have functioned as 'systems integrators' that put the entire system together.
Numerous private sector companies, notably Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division) and Larsen & Toubro, have developed crucial sub-systems like the missile launchers; while 330 smaller private firms feed into the Akash's production as Tier-2 and Tier-3 vendors.
Besides building the Akash systems that are already operationally deployed on the borders, these companies constitute a technology ecosystem that continuously upgrade the existing system and will develop the next generation of missiles.
This is the first time such a production ecosystem has been built for an indigenous missile and nurturing such an ecosystem is an obvious national interest.
But production ecosystems are nurtured with production orders.
Today, the Akash production chain stands empty as the defence ministry haggles with BEL over the cost of its next order.
Consequently, the induction of another eight Akash squadrons is held up by the ministry's insistence that the Akash must match international prices.
There is neither understanding nor acknowledgement of the difficulties that indigenous manufacturers face, nor of the benefits of an indigenous system.
From the start, the air force pooh-poohed the Akash, pressing instead for foreign-built missile systems whose complex electronics could easily be sabotaged with a kill switch that renders it ineffective against certain aircraft.
In repeated trials up to 2004, the air force rejected the Akash for specious reasons, even as the missile repeatedly struck its targets.
Eventually, in an incident in 2004 that has gone into DRDO folklore, the Akash project director, Dr Prahlada, readied the missile for a final do-or-die attempt to demonstrate its accuracy.
A Nishant drone was flown, trailing a target sleeve that the Akash was to engage. But then, just as the missile was readying to fire, the sleeve detached itself from the Nishant and floated to the ground.
With the air force evaluation team ready to declare the trial a failure and doom the Akash to oblivion, Dr Prahlada boldly designated the Nishant drone as the target.
The Akash missile slammed into the tiny Nishant 20 kilometres away, utterly destroying the Rs 1.5 crore drone.
Dr Prahlada had to field audit objections for years, but the Akash had proved its effectiveness against a target far smaller than a combat aircraft.
Why should the military buy more Akash even if it costs more than equivalent foreign systems?
There are at least five reasons.
First, technology is generational and the current Akash will inevitably birth a more capable version.
Already, the DRDO is developing a seeker head on a budget of just Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) that will make the Akash more accurate and capable of longer ranges.
Second, producing the Akash in India provides employment, a key aim of the Make in India programme.
Third, buying Indian creates a multiplier effect at multiple levels of our economy, whereas buying a system from abroad puts the money into another economy altogether.
Every company involved in defence production, every employee, is paying direct and indirect taxes into the economy.
Fourth, facilitating the development of defence systems in India creates strategic intellectual property; the government needs to subsidise IP creation with orders, as is done by the countries from which India routinely buys.
Fifth, Indian defence firms cannot be directly compared with foreign industry because the cost of doing business in India, especially working capital costs, are significantly higher -- 14 to 15 per cent here compared to 2 per cent abroad.
Add to that the 33 per cent corporate tax levied on Indian defence firms and the cost of equivalent Indian products works out at least 30 per cent higher than an identical product built abroad.
That is why the General Financial Regulations mandate that, in government procurement, if a product with 50 per cent value addition in India is up to 20 per cent more costly than an equivalent foreign product, the Indian vendor must be given the contract at the lowest bid price.
If the foreign vendor bids Rs 100 and the Indian vendor quotes between Rs 100 and Rs 120, the Indian vendor must get the option to supply at Rs 100.
For defence products, with their strategic dimension, the Indian vendor must be given the option to supply at a rate that is up to 20 per cent higher.
Ordering more Akash systems is essential for the Indian defence industry.
This is the first time an entirely Indian designed, developed, and manufactured product is being deployed in numbers.
The Akash experience would teach us a great deal about the dynamics of mass production, maintenance and spares support and upgrading it to the next level.
And it would constitute a clarion call that the government is serious about indigenisation.
This obsession to shoe away indigeneous products, always asking for the gold-plated version from indigeneous sources and no sense of iterartive development in acquisition process inside HQ of forces has really hampered Indian strategic interests. At the altar of operational readiness, Indian defence industry and its strategic interests have been sacrificed by those in the power to do so
BEL says its has inked a pact with MoD today for procurement of 7 Squadrons of Akash Missile System for
IAF
. This is a turnkey contract with specialist infrastructure and the total value is Rs 5,357 crore.
Defence Ministry to decide on Army's Rs 10,000 crore Akash missiles proposal for Pakistan, China border.
Seeking to prevent any intrusion of aircraft through the mountainous borders with Pakistan and China, the Defence Ministry is set to discuss a proposal to acquire two regiments of the Akash Prime missiles which can be deployed in high altitude areas above 15,000 feet.
The new Akash missiles which will have an extended performance range than its predecessors are being prepared to be deployed in high altitude areas in Ladakh which shares boundaries with both Pakistan and China.
"The Defence Ministry is scheduled to consider the Army proposal worth around Rs 10,000 crore for acquiring two regiments of the Akash Prime or extended performance Akash missiles. The Akash Prime Missile is an upgraded version of the missile system already existing in the Army," government sources told ANI.
The proposal would be discussed at the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council scheduled to be held today after the return of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Defence Minister from Ladakh.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the Col Chewang Rinchen Bridge built between Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
The Akash missile system has been developed in India by DRDO and has proven to be highly successful in the defence forces.
The Army already has two regiments of the missile and is looking to add two more for deployment on Pakistan and China border. Even though the Army is facing minor issues with servicing of the system due to involvement of two production agencies including the Bharat Electronics Limited and the Bharat Dynamics Limited, it is generally happy with missile's performance.
The present order of two regiments was earlier to be given to foreign vendors but the Narendra Modi government decided in favour of 'Make in India' in defence. Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the project for the Air Force to buy seven squadrons of the surface to air missile.
During an exercise in Surya Lanka held last year, the Akash missile system was tested along with all other air defence missiles including Israeli ones in the Indian Air Force inventory and it came out as the best performer.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully test-fired AKASH-MK-1S, the surface to air missile from ITR, Chandipur, Odhisa on May 25 and 27 this year. Akash Mk1S is an upgrade of existing AKASH missile with indigenous Seeker.
Seeking to prevent any intrusion of aircraft through the mountainous borders with Pakistan and China, the Defence Ministry is set to discuss a proposal to acquire two regiments of the Akash Prime missiles which can be deployed in high altitude areas above 15,000 feet.
The new Akash missiles which will have an extended performance range than its predecessors are being prepared to be deployed in high altitude areas in Ladakh which shares boundaries with both Pakistan and China.
"The Defence Ministry is scheduled to consider the Army proposal worth around Rs 10,000 crore for acquiring two regiments of the Akash Prime or extended performance Akash missiles. The Akash Prime Missile is an upgraded version of the missile system already existing in the Army," government sources told ANI.
The proposal would be discussed at the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council scheduled to be held today after the return of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Defence Minister from Ladakh.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the Col Chewang Rinchen Bridge built between Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
The Akash missile system has been developed in India by DRDO and has proven to be highly successful in the defence forces.
The Army already has two regiments of the missile and is looking to add two more for deployment on Pakistan and China border. Even though the Army is facing minor issues with servicing of the system due to involvement of two production agencies including the Bharat Electronics Limited and the Bharat Dynamics Limited, it is generally happy with missile's performance.
The present order of two regiments was earlier to be given to foreign vendors but the Narendra Modi government decided in favour of 'Make in India' in defence. Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the project for the Air Force to buy seven squadrons of the surface to air missile.
During an exercise in Surya Lanka held last year, the Akash missile system was tested along with all other air defence missiles including Israeli ones in the Indian Air Force inventory and it came out as the best performer.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully test-fired AKASH-MK-1S, the surface to air missile from ITR, Chandipur, Odhisa on May 25 and 27 this year. Akash Mk1S is an upgrade of existing AKASH missile with indigenous Seeker.
RM UNVEILING AKASH-NG RF TRANSMITTER
The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri unveiled the High Power Transmitter for New Generation Missile (Akash-NG) RF Seeker, designed by Microwave Tube Research & Development Center (MTRDC), a DRDO lab, and concurrently developed along with BEL, based on a production order from the Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
The Travelling-wave Tube (TWT) based Transmitter, along with other electronics, is a Make-in-India product and one of the success stories for concurrent engineerin
The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri unveiled the High Power Transmitter for New Generation Missile (Akash-NG) RF Seeker, designed by Microwave Tube Research & Development Center (MTRDC), a DRDO lab, and concurrently developed along with BEL, based on a production order from the Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
The Travelling-wave Tube (TWT) based Transmitter, along with other electronics, is a Make-in-India product and one of the success stories for concurrent engineerin
India picks Akash Prime SAM System over all other options to protect from China and Pakistan
The Ministry of Defence has given the go-ahead to acquire and induct the Made in India short range surface-to-air-missile defence system to protect its airspace from regional rivals China and Pakistan. India has withdrawn the request for air defence systems from all Global Tenders and selected its very own missile system.
By introducing the basic version of the Akash missile system, the country had saved precious forex reserves worth $5.3 billion. More orders are expected in the near future from the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
India’s Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik recently declared in the parliament that the 'Akash Prime' Missile was selected after withdrawing from the Global Tender.
Akash Prime is an advanced version of the home grown Akash SAM weapon system and is designed and developed by DRDO.
An Akash battery comprises a single Rajendra 3D passive electronically scanned array radar and four launchers with three missiles each, all of which are interlinked. Each battery can track up to 64 targets and attack up to 12 of them.
The Prime version of the Akash SAM weapons system will have an upgraded seeker technology, considerably reduced weapons signature, 360 degree enemy engagement capability and the ability to operate under extremely high and low temperatures. The Prime system will be deployed in the Himalayan region to protect assets against both China and Pakistan.
The Made in India Akash Missile System has a 96 percent indigenous component The missile has a range of 25km radius, uses a high explosive, pre-fragmented warhead, can track and engage 64 targets simultaneously and has a large operational envelope, from a low altitude of 30 metres to a maximum of up to 20 km.
Initially during the early testing phase of the Akash SAM System, the IAF had not shown much interest in the basic version. The IAF was seeking a SAM system with a more advance seeker system which would have a sensor to track and target incoming missiles more accurately. DRDO finally came up with the Prime version and helped India save billions of hard earned US Dollars in weapons purchase from foreign countries
https://www.defencenews.in/article/India-picks-Akash-Prime-SAM-System-over-all-other-options-to-protect-from-China-and-Pakistan-768190
NeXoft007 on D. F. I. :
Some news tho...
1. Three experimental trials of upgraded Brahmos by early next year.
2. Akash-NG diameter is confirmed to be 0.25m, slightly thicker than Barak 8 (0.225m)
3. Astra Mk. II diameter is confirmed to be 0.178m. Same as Astra Mk. 1.
Some news tho...
1. Three experimental trials of upgraded Brahmos by early next year.
2. Akash-NG diameter is confirmed to be 0.25m, slightly thicker than Barak 8 (0.225m)
3. Astra Mk. II diameter is confirmed to be 0.178m. Same as Astra Mk. 1.
Will require much more superior capability. Especially when most of the stuff that need replacement will happen only 10-15 years later.
- Dual pulse motor
- Half the weight (Guessing)
- No need for illumination
After our current round of upgrades, we will have only 3 Talwars with Shilka that will come up for upgrades only after 2035, with the remaining 4 Talwars after 2040. So you want IN to switch to Akash Mk2 in 2035, or do you want IN to upgrade to missiles that can stop hypersonic missiles by then?