India reportedly has shipped the first batch of its Akash air defense missile systems to Armenia, according to a report in the New Indian Express published on Tuesday.
The new shipment will the the second of the system to be exported.
The Akash system, developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization, is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) which can hit targets like fighter jets, missiles (cruise, air-to-surface), drones and other aerial assets to a range of 25 kilometers.
Manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited, each battery of Akash weapon system is accompanied by a single Rajendra 3D passive electronically scanned array radar and four launchers with three missiles each, all of which are interlinked.
The defense production secretary at India’s Defense Ministry Secretary Sanjeev Kumar announced that his department “flagged off the 1st Akash Weapon System Battery to a Friendly Foreign Country.”
“This event reflects India’s growing capabilities in defense technology and manufacturing,” Bharat Electronics Limited said on Monday.
India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had said, however, the missile version of Akash to be exported will be different from the system introduced into the Indian armed forces.
Following a 2022 military cooperation deal between New Delhi and Yerevan, Armenia has become the largest buyer of Indian weapons, according to the Indian government.
Citing India’s Defense Ministry, the Indian Aerospace Defense News publication reported in July, that the “total volume of weapons purchases by Armenia from India reached $600 million by the start of current [financial year] 2024-25.”
