India test-fires medium-range Akash missile

India on Wednesday, for the second consecutive day, successfully test-fired its medium-range surface-to-air Akash missile from a defence base in Odisha, an official said.

The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27-km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

The exercise was carried out as part of a user trial by the Indian Air Force, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Kumar Gupta told IANS.

The 700-kg all-weather indigenously developed missile can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5. It can operate autonomously and simultaneously engage and neutralise different aerial targets.

It can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces.

Developed by the DRDO, the army version of Akash is being produced by the Bharat Dynamics Limited as the nodal production agency with the involvement of Bharat Electronics Limited and a large number of other industries.