India’s Akash Missile system still not operational, Modi’s govt under pressure

India’s Akash Missile system has been a disappointment so far. The missile system has not been operational ever since the initiation of its development. Modi’s government is under tremendous pressure as it’s taking too long, is still not operational and has suffered from many failed attempts. 

Propaganda by Indian Media

The Indian media had been praising the Missile system since its initiation. In 2017 the Indian Media had launched a propaganda campaign stating that the Missile system Akash is one of the best defence solutions and investment for India. Sources suggest that the campaign launched by the media stated that the Akash missile will secure numerous deals with countries. They claimed that several countries such as Sudan, The Philippines, and Kenya are interested in procuring the Akash missiles from India. 

Moreover, they also stated that Egypt, UAE, Indonesia, and Vietnam are also interested in the weapon system. PM Nardinder Modi had also raised the hopes of the Indian people by praising the technology and stating that its the best “Made in India” solution to their defence problems. However, ever since then not a single deal has been closed by any country whatsoever as all of it has been a hoax. The missile has faced numerous challenges with its Radar, control systems and sensors.

Performance of Akash Missile System

The Akash missile is a land to air missile that has a suspected range of 30 km. Shockingly, sources report that during live testing of the missile, 43% of the test subjects failed to even fire. The electronic control units, sensors, and radar are some of the concerns faced by the missile and they could not be tackled till now. In 2019, the Defence Investigation Board (DIB) was called by PM Modi to deal with these issues. However, the board has had 16 meetings from 2019 to 2023 and there is still no solution to the problems yet.

Tejas Fighter Aircraft Project

The Tejas fighter aircraft project had been initiated back in 2011. This project has also shown immense issues as the reported cost has tripled now. A staggering 178 projects were worked upon but only 86 have shown success while the others are not fit for user reported by DRDO. 46 Projects were approved by the government till 2011 and only 13 were successfully reported by the Auditor General and Controller.

Even though there have been many claims by the government and DRDO, both Tejas fighter project and Akash missile system have not shown any positive results and despite the claims by the government relating their cost-effectiveness, they have been leaking money as DRDO’s budget for the last year was $3 billion.