Akash Surface-to-air Missile

Raj Malhotra

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Intial Astra used Agat Seeker

Next batch Indian manufactered Agat Seeker with Some Russian components

Ultimate aim is completely indigenise Agat Seeker

Simultaneously DRDO programme is running for completely indigenous seeker

Pvt sector also offering their seekers with various levels of indigenisation

India does not use SARH only ARH in all DRDO programmes
 
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Sidd

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Akash is too heavy to be used on ships. I am just saying that the BARAK-8 seekers which is imported from Israel can now be made indian.

Though, I must admit, I don't know if they are compatible with the radars
We can replace MF-Star radar with our very own Arudhra radar.
 

Chinmoy

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IMO <30km can be supported in Fire and Forget mode. all in all it boils down to the OEM design/requirements obviously within SWaP constraints.

drdo has at its disposal a wide range of lithium thermal batteries to take care of onboard power requirements for missiles etc.

View attachment 21918
eg.
power (watts), life(s), weight(g)
4000, 300, 6500
500, 60, 570
160, 480, 1000
175, 40, 300
700, 200, 3000
336, 165, 1050
15000, 105, 5700
etc
etc
etc

basic battery design

View attachment 21919

these are manufactured by HBL and many of these are also exported.

View attachment 21920

unless drdo clarifies it is difficult to know for certain whether it is a Passive or Active seeker ,

anyways i have a feeling that given that akash mk1 is command guided , its highly possible they came up with active seeker (for terminal guidance) with a radar-supported inertial navigation system ( for mid course guidance ) for akash mk1s .
Nice find.

https://www.echomax.co.uk/power-consumption.html
 

Steven Rogers

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Akash is solid fuelled ramjet. Brahmos is liquid fuelled ramjet. Theoretically, liquid fuelled ramjet can attain greater velocities as the fuel burns quicker.
The dual pulse rocket of Barak-8 is intended to give it another boost at the terminal phase when the target may itself be accelerating. This gives it a greater kill probability by stopping the target from outrunning it and giving more energy to the missile.
In case of Akash, the missile flies at sustained speed throughout once the booster phase completes. It cannot throttle as throttling a solid fuelled ramjet requires integrated ducted ram-rocket design like Meteor or the ramjet has to be liquid fuelled. A meteor like msiike would be too costly. A liquid ramject would be too heavy. Also, we don't have the tech to make them.
Dodging Akash in it's terminal phase would be different from dodging the Barak-8. Akash would chase the aircraft longer but Barak-8 would chase it faster.
Also, Akash like design having an integrated booster (needed as ramjets cannot start from zero speed) would be a heavier missile than compact rocket fuelled missiles.
This is why Russians thought Akash (Kvadrat) was an evolutionary dead end and had moved on to rocket fuelled missiles. Akash NG has to be rocket fuelled. A2A ramjet missiles like Meteor make sense as they don't need large boosters as they have initial velocity and also because of integrated rockets.
For your second thought about our capability, we already tested Ducted ramjet in 2015 successfully

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Steven Rogers

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Kvadrat is 1-1.5 Mach speed and is not comparable to Akash

Barak-8 has maximum speed of 2 Mach. Akash has sustained speed of 2.5-3 Mach. Akash chases faster. Barak chases longer due to its second stage firing.

Liquid fuel need not burn faster. Solid fuel burns faster and also can be mixed with some oxidiser to increase speed.

You are right in saying Barak-8 flies longer. But, it is bad against planes flying at 1.5 mach speed. Barak-8 is for less maneuverable cruise missiles and not for extreme maneuverable and fast jet.
Barak 8 second pulse speed is greater than Mach 5 due to second pulse....

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NeXoft007

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The problem with Akash is that it is a heavy missile powered by Ramjet. Barak-8 is a dual pulsed motor powered missile with semi-ballistic trajectory. The speed of Akash is same as Brahmos as it also uses the same technology. The speed of Barak-8 is just 2Mach or less. Barak-8 also has seekers which Akash is getting only now.

As a matter of fact, both Akash and Barak-8 is made in India, except for seekers. Akash has no seekers while Barak-8 has Israeli seekers. So, once seekers are made, both missiles will be fully indigenous.

Akash can be compared to Brahmos as both have similar engine and warhead to missile ratio. Akash range could be 30km diagonally at 15km height which means that Akash has to travel up in the air for 15km. Barak-8 has a range of 70km, not 90km. Also, the range may be at a lower flight ceiling.

It is likely that under same conditions for testing both missile, Akash may have similar range as Barak-8. Barak-8 has lower speed at 2Mach or less and likely to be inferior is Akash gets a seeker. Bt, Akash is not compatible with ships due to its high weight and hence lower number of missiles that can be fit into a ship. 32 Barak-8 can be loaded whereas if Akash is used, it can be lesser.
Barak 8 is completely different in terms of speed. It's Mach 2 with its primary pulse, and reaches beyond Mach 6 when second pulse is used during terminal stage.
 

tharun

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Barak 8 is completely different in terms of speed. It's Mach 2 with its primary pulse, and reaches beyond Mach 6 when second pulse is used during terminal stage.
Welcome back Noor............................................
 

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