Vietnam discusses with India to purchase Indian-made Akash air defense missile system 11201173

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Defence & Security News - Vietnam
 
Vietnam discusses with India to purchase Indian-made Akash air defense missile system.
India and Vietnam are discussing the possibility of the sale of Indian-made Akash surface-to-air defense missile system according the Newspaper Website The Times of India, January 9, 2017. The discussions follow the review of the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries in early December last year.
     
India and Vietnam are discussing the possibility of the sale of Indian-made Akash surface-to-air defense missile system according the Newspaper Website The Times of India, January 9, 2017. The discussions follow the review of the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries in early December last year.
Akash surface-to-air defense missile system at Defense Exhibition in New Delhi.
     
Indian Defence minister Manohar Parrikar says Vietnam "is a close friend" and several initiatives are in progress to further boost bilateral defence cooperation, ranging from help in upgrade of military equipment of the Vietnamese forces to training them on fighters and submarines.

The Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air defense missile (SAM) system designed and maunfuactured by India's state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The development of Akash missile system was started in 1983 with a first production in 2002.

Akash is a surface-to-air missile which is able ton intercept aerial threats at a maximum range of 30 km. It has a launch weight of 720 kg, a diameter of 35 cm and a length of 5.78 meters. Akash flies at supersonic speed, reaching around Mach 2.5. It can reach an altitude of 18 km and can be fired from both tracked and wheeled platforms.