The supersonic surface-to-air missile Akash was test-fired from the Chandipur Test Range near here on Wednesday afternoon. Although there was no official confirmation about the result of the trial conducted by the IAF, the exercise was not successful, it was learnt from sources.
There could be more tests of the missile on Friday, the sources further said. It may be mentioned that three rounds of the weapon were conducted in February this year. According to reports, the missile was fired to target the pilotless aircraft lakshya at 2.43 pm, 13 minutes after the aircraft took off. According to sources, the missile will have another two rounds of test.
Being the first indigenously designed, developed and produced air defence system of India, Akash has a strike range of approximately 27 km. It is meant both for the Indian Army and Air Force. The Akash weapon system was inducted into the armed forces in 2008.The missile can be fired from both track and wheel platforms. The multi-target, multi-directional, all-weather air-defence system consisting of surveillance and tracking radars is designed to enable integration with other air defence command and control networks through secured communication links.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Akash is being produced by the Bharat Dynamics limited (BDl) as the nodal production agency with the involvement of the Bharat Electronics limited (BEl) and a number of other set-ups.