What is Akashteer? India's own ‘Iron Dome' of an air defence system that defeated Pakistani drones, missiles

Mint

14-05-2025

On the intervening night of May 8-9, Pakistan launched a series of coordinated drone and missile attacks along India's western border, targetting 26 locations. A day later, Pakistan violated the Indian airspace once again. Drones, possibly armed, were seen at several locations.
Defence officials said that these attacks were intercepted by India's air defence systems, including the defence system, preventing significant damage.
So, what are India's air defence systems? An impenetrable 'Iron Dome' – akashteer.
Akashteer is an indigenous Artificial Intelligence-powered Air Defence System which is designed and manufactured jointly by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
It was Akashteer which stopped all Pakistani inbound airborne drones, missiles, other micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other loitering munitions and prevented them from entering the Indian airspace.
DD News on Wednesday, in a series of posts on X, explained what Akashteer does and it successfully defeated Pakistan's repeated attempts to attack India.
Probably the first operational AI war-cloud built entirely without any foreign components or satellite dependencies, Akashteer takes superiority over Pakistan's air defence response. Consisting of HQ- 9 & HQ-16, Pakistan's air defence systems proved to be a failure to detect Indian projectiles and intercept them in timely manner, resulting in heavy losses.
''Akashteer', the fully AI-powered autonomous defence system successfully did the real-time target interception and indulged in drone warfare,' a DD News post said.
"The air defence system provides a common, real-time air picture to all involved parties (control room, radars, and Air Defense Guns), enabling coordinated air defense operations. It is a system designed to automate detection, tracking and engagement of enemy aircraft, drones and missiles. It integrates various radar systems, sensors and communication technologies into a single operational framework," the DD News said.
According to DD News, Akashteer gathers data from multiple sources, processes it and then allows for automated, and real-time engagement decisions.
Part of the broader C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) framework, Akashteer works in coordination with other systems like ISRO satellites and Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC) GPS.
Akashteer's brilliance is in its intelligent warfare. Where traditional models of air defence rely heavily on ground-based radars, human-monitored systems, and surface-to-air missile batteries triggered by command chains, Akashteer's technology allows for monitoring of low-level airspace in battle areas and efficient control of Ground-Based Air Defence Weapon Systems.
'Akashteer is capable of intercepting and neutralising hostile UAVs without detection, using no active radar signatures. It relied entirely on stealth drone tracking, satellite surveillance, and AI-based decision-making,' DD News' post on X said.
With Akashteer as an air defence system, India is now the first non-Western nation to successfully integrate its autonomous drone swarms, indigenous satellite surveillance, and AI battlefied coordination into a single, real-time combat platform.
'In one line, Akashteer has demonstrated that it sees, decides and strikes faster than anything the world has fielded,' DD News said.
A vehicle-based system, Akashteer functions autonomously, with drones capable of altering flight paths, selecting targets, and coordinating strikes without operator input.
Since it is mobile, it is easier to handle in hostile environment. "The integration of multiple elements reduces the possibility of friendly fire, enabling quick engagement of hostile targets, and guarantee friendly aircraft safety in contested airspace," DD News said.
The sensors integrated include 3D tactical radars, low-level lightweight radars, and the akash weapon system, it added.