The Defence Research Development (DRDO) on May 24, 2012 test fired the Akash Missile successfully from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in the state of Orissa, India. The test firing was actually a part of India’s routine air defence exercise, but this adds new feather in the cap of the Indian Defence shield.
The missile uses the state of art integral ram jet rocket propulsion system and the onboard digital autopilot gives stability as well as control. The missile also has many safety and abort features for safety handling and operations.
The Akash missile gets it guidance with the use of ‘Rajendra’ radar, which has been developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), one of the DRDO laboratories in Bangalore in the state of Karnataka. Apart from guiding the missile, the Rajendra also does the surveillance, tracks the target and also acquires it.
The development of the Akash Missile began in the 1990s under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Looking at the success of the missile, the Defence experts have also compared the missile to the American MIM 104 Patriot surface to Air missile system. It seems like the name Akash goes well in the country.
