India in Talks with Vietnam for Sale of Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles
India in Talks with Vietnam for Sale of Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles 09 Januari 2017 Akash air defence system (photo : Indian Defence News) India and Vietnam are actively discussing the sale of Akash surface-to-air missiles to the latter, the Times of India reported on Monday. The Akash missile can engage hostile aircraft and drones at a range of 25 kilometres. Writing for the Business Standard, Ajai Shukla explains that the Akash missile was planned as a replacement for the army’s obsolescent Russian SAM-6 Kvadrat. The heart of an Akash missile battery is the Hyderabad-developed Rajendra phased-array radar that tracks up to 64 enemy fighter aircraft simultaneously, in a radius of 60 kilometres. The mobile command centre selects up to four of the most threatening air targets, and two Akash missiles are fired at each from the Akash launchers. The Rajendra radar continuously guides the missiles, eventually “flying” them smack into the enemy fighters. Theoret...