The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, December 30, gave its approval for the export of the Akash Missile System. The move comes as a step forward towards the vision to achieve USD 5 billion of defence export, which in turn would help improve strategic relations with friendly foreign countries.
Akash is a surface-to-air missile that can hit targets like jets, cruise missiles, drones, and other aerial assets to a range of 25 km. This missile was first introduced in the Indian Air Force and in the Indian Army in 2015.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to write, ‘Under the #AtmaNirbharBharat, India is growing in its capabilities of manufacturing a wide variety of defence platforms and missiles.’
Under the #AtmaNirbharBharat, India is growing in its capabilities of manufacturing wide variety of Defence platforms & missiles. The Cabinet chaired by PM @narendramodi ji today approved the export of Akash Missile System and a Committee for faster Approvals has been created.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 30, 2020
Nevertheless, the missile version of ‘Akash’ will be different from the system that is incorporated in the Indian Armed Forces. The Defence Minister also mentioned that over 96 percent of the components in the missile were indigenous.
The move will also allow Indian manufacturers to participate in the request for interest (RFI) and the request for purchase (RFP), that is issued by several countries.
Many friendly countries had shown interest in various systems and platforms exhibited at national and international exhibitions, as reported by The New Indian Express.
A few nations have also shown interest in other indigenous platforms like the coastal surveillance system, radars, and aerial platforms. Also, a committee comprising of the Defence Minister, the External Affairs Minister, and the National Security Advisor has been formed to make the process of approval easier. The duty of this newly formed committee is to approve future exports of major indigenous platforms to other countries.
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