Defexpo 2022: India showcases Akash-NG mobile missile launcher

DRDO's Akash-NG mobile missile launcher (pictured here) at Defexpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has showcased the Akash-New Generation (Akash-NG) mobile missile launcher at Defexpo 2022 being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from 18 to 22 October.

The Akash-NG is a short-range mobile surface-to-air missile system (SRSAM) with a range of up to 30 km. The system is designed and developed by the DRDO and manufactured by Pune-based Electropneumatics and Hydraulics (India) Pvt Ltd (EHPL).

The system consists of six canister missiles that are mounted on a mobile platform for transportation.

According to EHPL, the system operates to an elevation of 20–70° and an azimuth of 360°, and it is designed for reloading two canister missile stacks within 10 minutes.

The reaction time of the system is 10 seconds from target acquisition by the command-and-control unit when a single missile is launched.

For three missiles, the system's firing rate is 20 seconds. The deployment period of the system is less than 20 minutes between the transportation modeand ready-to-fire state and vice versa, EHPL said.

The company added that the system uses servo electromechanical jacks for auto-levelling with algorithms, which reduced the platform levelling time to 180 seconds.

C Srinivas Rao Choudary, deputy general manager of EHPL, told Janes that the system has cleared all the tests and is ready for induction into the Indian Army.

He added, “The system is tested at various places. It attained the desired results. The system will be used by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF), as well for aerial threats.”