Indian Army inks over Rs 6000 crore deal with BDL for Akash air defence missile system

Bharat Dynamics Limited has agreed to provide the Indian Army with two regiments of upgraded versions of the Akash Air Defence Missile Systems, providing a significant boost to the Make in India program in the defence sector.

With BDL, a contract was signed for the third and fourth regiments of the missile system, which would cost more than Rs 6000 crore.

According to senior defence sources quoted by ANI, "This would be the upgraded versions of the missile system with seekers and give more accuracy to Indian Army while taking out any offensive enemy aircraft or drone on the border."

These two missile regiments were initially going to be imported from abroad, but the Narendra Modi government chose to only use Indigenous Weapons Systems, so the clearance of these two missile regiments can be seen as a victory for the Make in India initiative.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the north is one example of a high-altitude frontier where the Upgraded Akash Missile Systems are now capable of being effective.

The upgraded Akash System has an indigenous active Radio Frequency (RF) seeker for greater precision as compared to the original Akash System.

Other Advancements Guarantee more dependable operation in chilly environments at higher altitudes. The current Akash Weapon System has also been upgraded for use on the ground.

The users' confidence has been further boosted by the Akash system (Indian Army and Indian Air Force).

The missile may be launched up to 4,500 metres in the air and can destroy objects up to 25 to 30 kilometres away.