DRDO Chief N Prahlada makes announcement
Hyderabad, January 7, 2008Speaking to the media, the DRDO Chief Controller (R&D-SI), N Prahlada said that at a time when threat from unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles is on the rise, the defence research laboratories are ready with Akash Surface-to-Air Missile System.
He said the unmanned aircraft costing Rs.50 lakhs could be used by anyone. There was also threat from cruise missiles, he said and added that the defence forces had already identified and mapped the vulnerable ares and points in the country with regard to air defence.
The fully automated system can take on targets like fighter aircraft, unmanned aircraft, helicopters and cruse missiles. It is designed for all terrain mobility and all weather operations and does not require any field maintenance and its life is 20 years. Akash surface to Air missile has a launch weight of 720 kg, a diameter of 350mm and is 5.8 m long. He added that 13 DRDO laboratories, one thousand scientists ad more than one hundred industries like BDL, Hyderabad were involved in the design and production of the system. The entire system has 50 computers working in tandem to detect a target, diagnose and strike within 15 seconds.
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