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‘Akash’ is a Surface to Air Missile with a range of 25 kms and was inducted in the Indian Air Force in 2014 and in 2015 in the Indian Army.
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday (December 30, 2020) approved the export of ‘Akash’ Missile System following which the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed that the decision would help India to improve its defence products.
“So far, Indian defence exports included parts/components etc. The export of big platforms was minimal. This decision by the Cabinet would help the country to improve its defence products and make them globally competitive,” said Rajnath Singh.
He added, “Under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat, India is growing in its capabilities of manufacturing wide variety of Defence platforms and missiles.”
This is to be noted that Akash is the country’s one of important missiles with over 96 per cent indigenisation.
‘Akash’ is a Surface to Air Missile with a range of 25 kms and was inducted in the Indian Air Force in 2014 and in 2015 in the Indian Army.
“After its induction in the Services, interest is shown in Akash missile by many friendly countries during International Exhibitions/Def Expo/Aero India,” said the Cabinet.
The Cabinet approval will facilitate Indian manufactures to participate in RFI/RFP issued by various countries.
“The export version of Akash will be different from System currently deployed with Indian Armed Forces,” stated Singh.
“Government of India intends to focus on exporting high value defence platforms, to achieve target of 5 Billion USD of defence export and improve strategic relations with friendly foreign countries,” said Singh.
Besides Akash, there is interest coming in other major platforms like Coastal Surveillance System, Radars and Air platforms. To provide faster approvals for export of such platforms, a Committee comprising of Defence Minister, External Affairs Minister and National Security Advisor has been created.
This Committee would authorise subsequent exports of major indigenous platforms to various countries and would also explore various available options including the Government-to-Government route.
News Credit Zee News