Jaisalmer: The Indian Army and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday successfully conducted the launch of the new generation of Akash missile from Pokhran Field Firing range in Jaisalmer district.

The upgraded Army version missile has been fired from a heavy mobility truck. The new generation missile is designed for use by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army in order to intercept high-manoeuvring aerial threats. The Indian Army artillery will become stronger from the missile.

An official source said, “The surface-to-air missile was fired on Tuesday. The Akash-NG (new-generation) missile will be used by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force to intercept high-manoeuvring low radar cross-section aerial threats. The missile intercepted the target with textbook precision. The launch met all the test objectives by performing high manoeuvres during the trajectory. The missile is capable of engaging in multiple targets in real time. The missile has an intercept range of 40km with the missile guidance system being more accurate now along with the fire control system.

A defence source said, “The performance of the command and control system, on-board avionics and aerodynamic configuration of the missile was successfully validated during the trial. Several range instruments including radar, EOTS and telemetry systems were used while monitoring the entire path of the missile during the test launch.”

The source said that during the test launch, the entire flight path of the missile was monitored and the flight data was captured by various range instruments. The multi-function radar was tested for its capability of integration with the system. The range of the missile is from 1.8 to 2.5 Mach. The missile could be fired from tanks which are stable or even from moving surface life warships and trucks.

A source said, “The Akash-NG system has been developed with better deployability compared to other similar systems. The missile is solely designed by DRDO and has been produced by defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL). The test launch was carried out by a combined team of DRDO and India Army.”