New Delhi: Amid threat from the Chinese Air Force on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the ongoing conflict, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out around 10 testfirings of Akash air defence missiles to validate different scenarios to shoot down enemy aircraft that may violate the Indian air space during conflicts.
The testfirings conducted at the Suryalanka testfiring range in Andhra Pradesh last week were highly successful as a majority of the Akash missiles fired at the targets scored a direct hit.
These Akash missiles were fired by the Air Force during the Combined Guided Weapons Firing 2020 exercise. Most of the missiles scored a direct hit at the target.
The IAF tested the Akash missiles and the Igla shoulder-fired air defence missiles during the exercise.
Interestingly, both these systems are at present deployed along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and other sectors for taking out any enemy aircraft trying to violate the Indian air space.
The Akash, sources said, is one of the most successful indigenous weapon systems and would be fulfilling the desire of the defence forces to fight wars with indigenous weapons.
The missile was recently upgraded and is being equipped with a seeker which will help it to take down targets with greater ease than before.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been working on the Akash Prime missile system which will make it capable of engaging with targets at very high altitude locations too.
Akash is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defence system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.