Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on Thursday signed a contract worth about Rs 499 crore with the Ministry of Defence for the manufacture and supply of Akash missiles to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

According to a press release, the contract was signed by Air Commodore Ajay Singhal, Air Commodore, Guided Weapons Maintenance on behalf of Indian Air Force and Commodore T N Kaul (Retd), Executive Director (Marketing) on behalf of BDL in the presence of Radhakrishna, Director (Production), BDL at New Delhi today.

CMD, BDL Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd) stated that BDL is supplying Akash Missiles to the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. With the announcement from the Union Cabinet regarding clearance of Akash Weapon System for Export, the Company is exploring offering Akash for export to foreign countries. BDL has already received export leads from some countries expressing interest in procuring the Missile. The Company has a well-established infrastructure and expertise to execute these orders and meet the customer delivery schedule.

BDL is the prime production agency for projects under India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Akash is one of the missiles under IGMDP being manufactured by BDL, both for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. The Missile has been successfully test-fired on several occasions and is regarded as one of the best missiles in its category.