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NDTV
09-05-2025
- NDTV
"Happiest Day...": The Man Behind Akash System That Stopped Pak Missiles
New Delhi: The indigenously developed Akash missile system was instrumental in neutralising missiles and drones and protecting cities in west India when Pakistan attacked Thursday night. The Akash system - a surface-to-air system designed to engage multiple targets simultaneously - was developed over 15 years by Dr Prahlada Ramarao, a former DRDO scientist. "It is the happiest day of life... seeing my baby work so accurately and beautifully in shooting down incoming enemy aerial targets," an elated Dr Ramarao told NDTV. He said he had tears in his eyes when he saw "it worked beyond expectations... engaging incoming targets effectively". Now 78 years old, he was the youngest Project Director for the Akash programme when he was handpicked by India's 'missile man' and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He recalled the Indian military had hesitated in acquiring the system, which his colleagues and he had designed to intercept drones, missiles, helicopters, and even highly manoeuvrable aircraft like the United States-made supersonic F-16 fighter jets, which are among those Pak pilots fly. The Akash system, working with India's integrated counter-unmanned aerial system grid, the Russian-made S-400, and other anti-aircraft weaponry, came together to create a shield that held firm. READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones And India, government sources said, had demonstrated it is 'capable not only of defending its skies... but it now controls them'. What is Akash Missile Defence System The Akash system is manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited in Hyderabad. Essentially it is a short range, surface-to-air missile system offering protection from aerial threats. It can engage multiple targets at one time, either as a group or autonomously. It has built-in electronic counter-counter measures and the entire system has been configured on mobile platforms, making it is highly manoeuvrable and potent addition to the military. The Akash system can engage targets at altitude of up to 20km. Each launcher carries three missiles - these work in a 'fire and forget' mode - and each missile is about 20 feet long and weighs 710kg. Each missile carries a 60kg warhead. The system is also fully automatic and has real-time, multi-sensor data processing and threat evaluation capabilities, and works rapidly from acquiring, identifying, and neutralising targets. The Akash system was exported to Armenia in a Rs 6,000-crore deal. Dr Ramarao told NDTV his tagline for Akash is ' sara akash hamara ', or 'the whole sky is ours', and today his weapon system lived up to that reputation.
NDTV
09-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
India's 'We Control Our Skies' Message After Shooting Down Pak Missiles
New Delhi: India is in control of its airspace which is protected by an advanced air defence network 'capable of detecting, jamming, and eliminating threats before they breach' - this is the unequivocal message to Pakistan and hostile non-state actors, sources told NDTV Friday. The message came after the Air Force repulsed two waves of drone and missile attacks by Pak targeting Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Punjab. The first began late May 7 night (hours after India's Operation Sindoor eliminated nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir) and rolled over into the early hours of May 8. Military facilities in or near 15 Indian cities were targeted. But a combination of air defences, including the integrated counter-unmanned aerial system, or C-UAS, network intercepted the missiles, and Israeli-made HARPY drones counterattacked by disabling Pak's air defences. The second wave was launched hours later. But, once again, Indian air defences - this time using the indigenously developed Akash missile defence system, which is comparable to Israel's 'Iron Dome' - repulsed the attack. READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones The authority with which these missile and drone attacks were put down was underlined by the fact that not a single Pak projectile hit its target; every single one was intercepted or neutralised, thanks to the government's rapid and coordinated response system, sources told NDTV. The fact that India also managed to counterattack and destroy Pak air defence systems, potentially leaving the vulnerable to another aerial offensive, was also reiterated. A China-supplied HQ-9 air defence unit in Lahore was disabled amid Pak's first wave. India's air defence system includes the Russian-made S-400 that is widely considered to be among the best in the world. The Narendra Modi government ordered five of these from Russia in 2018 at a cost of Rs 35,000 crore; three have been delivered, two more are due by 2026. The three delivered systems are now operational along the Pak and China borders. India currently has three squadrons of the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system (File). The air defence system also includes the homemade Akash missiles and drone-counter technology; the former has been compared to Israel's powerful 'Iron Dome' system that protected Tel Aviv from a barrage of Hamas and Hezbollah rockets in the war in West Asia. The government also pointed to precision strikes on nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir - codenamed Operation Sindoor, India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack, execution of which was supported by the Pak deep state - as further examples of its prowess. Twenty-four missiles - including the SCALP long-range missile and the HAMMER smart bomb - were released in Operation Sindoor in a 25-minute window. Operation Sindoor also saw the use of 'loitering munitions', which are precision explosions that can hover over a area, confirm its target, and then deliver its payload. Sources told NDTV the effective defence of enemy missiles and drones, and the accuracy with which India delivered its own projectiles, means the country has emerged as being 'not just capable of defending its skies... it now controls them'.
