Jaisalmer: The Indian Army’s Air Defence Warriors of Sapta Shakti Command successfully tested one more advanced version of Akash Prime, a new generation missile at Pokhran field in Jaisalmer on Sunday.

The missile included simultaneous engagement of multiple aerial targets ensuring 100% hits, demonstrating the potency of the weapon in realistic operational conditions. The new variant of the missile fired from surface to air successfully hit the pseudo targets of the enemy.

During the trials which were on for the last four days, Sapta Shakti Commander GoC Lieutenant General A S Bhinder, scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and senior army officers were present.

DRDO developed the ‘Made in India’ Akash missile system that can be launched from mobile platforms and engage multiple targets simultaneously from different directions.

An army official said, “The upgraded missile has been fired from a mobility platform. The new generation missile is designed for use by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army in order to intercept high manoeuvring aerial threats. The Indian Army artillery will become stronger from the missile and the aerial security will become tighter.”

The missile is capable of engaging multiple targets in real time and has an intercept range of 40km with the missile guidance system being more accurate now along with the fire control system.

A defence source said, “The performance of the command and control system, on-board avionics and aerodynamic configuration of the missile was successfully validated during the trial. Several range instruments including radar, EOTS and telemetry systems were used while monitoring the entire path of the missile during the test launch.”