India's defence export milestone: Akash air defence missile enters Central Asia

India's indigenous Akash air defence missile system has expanded its footprint into Central Asia, with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh confirming that the system has been exported to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, in addition to Armenia.Speaking to ANI, Rajesh Kumar Singh said Armenia was the first foreign customer for Akash and had acquired multiple batteries. “The first customer was Armenia, which has taken multiple batteries. Thereafter, we've also exported it to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan,” he said.He described Akash as one of India's defence export success stories, pointing to the system's indigenous development and the growing maturity of the country's missile production capabilities.He further said Akash has emerged as an effective system for dealing with high velocity aerial targets, while production of the missile system has now stabilised.