India Tests Medium-Range Surface-To-Air Missile
Dated 19/12/2007
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India Wednesday tested medium-range surface-to-air missile Akash twice from Orissa's Chandipur defence base, defence sources said. The multi-target missiles carrying live warhead each were test-fired from the Integrated Test Range Chandipur-on-sea, some 230 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, between 1.45 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The missiles targeted a flying object dropped from a pilot-less aircraft (PTA), which was flown from the test range a few minutes earlier. Akash, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), weighs 650 kg and has a range of 25 kilometres.
It uses the integrated two-stage RAMJET propulsion technology to carry a maximum 50 kg payload.