# India completes Akash-NG user trials and fires Pralay in salvo, both cleared for 2026 induction
> Akash-NG extended to 50km range passed final user evaluation on December 23 2025; Pralay demonstrated salvo-launch capability from Abdul Kalam Island on December 31 2025; initial squadrons of both systems are on the mid-2026 induction queue

**Meta:** type: event · date: 2025-12-31 · heads: اللعبة الطويلة, أموال من · 10 takes · 5 lenses · 3 regions

## Summary

[India](/ar/entity/india) closed December 2025 with back-to-back missile milestones. On 23 December, DRDO's Akash-NG surface-to-air missile completed Final User Evaluation Trials before Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior officers from the Indian Air Force; the tests confirmed engagement range extended to approximately 50km via a dual-pulse solid rocket motor, up from the 25-35km of the legacy Akash-1S, and an active radar seeker that guides the missile autonomously without dependence on the ground-based launch-control radar. The active seeker means Akash-NG can engage multiple simultaneous targets in a jamming environment where Akash-1S would degrade. BDL and BEL are the production agencies. On 31 December, DRDO launched two consecutive Pralay quasi-ballistic missiles from Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island, Odisha), demonstrating salvo-launch capability: both missiles flew separate quasi-ballistic trajectories, manoeuvring mid-course to complicate interception, over a range exceeding 500km. Pralay is solid-fuelled, road-mobile and launched from a TEL, filling the 150-500km surface-to-surface strike band that previously required BrahMos at significantly higher unit cost. Both systems are on the mid-2026 induction queue: an initial IAF Akash-NG squadron is targeted for activation, and Army Pralay regiments are expected to reach initial operational readiness before end of 2026. Akash-1S's combat record from Operation Sindoor in May 2025, when it contributed to India's layered air-defence response, strengthened the induction case for Akash-NG.

## The split

Indian official and defence-industrial coverage (DD News, BharatShakti, IDRW) frames both milestones as confirmation of the Atmanirbhar Bharat indigenisation programme reaching strategic depth: India now manufactures its own interceptors and quasi-ballistic strike missiles without foreign supply chains. Policy commentary (InsightsOnIndia) notes the layering logic: Akash-NG at 50km plus MRSAM/Barak-8 at 70km plus S-400 at 400km gives India a vertically integrated air-defence stack, while Pralay at 500km plus BrahMos at 300-800km gives it a graduated strike ladder. Chinese state media (Global Times) reads the Pralay salvo specifically as a Pakistan-targeting development, noting that 500km range from forward positions covers Pakistani strategic sites and reaches portions of the Tibetan Plateau, and calls the dual-system milestone "destabilising."

## By the numbers

- 50km, Akash-NG engagement range (up from 25-35km for Akash-1S).
- December 23 2025, Akash-NG Final User Evaluation Trials completed.
- December 31 2025, Pralay salvo-launch demonstration, two consecutive launches from Abdul Kalam Island.
- 500km+, Pralay range at standard configuration.
- Mid-2026, target date for initial IAF Akash-NG squadron.
- End-2026, target for Army Pralay regiments at initial operational readiness.

## Why it matters

Akash-NG's active radar seeker closes the one vulnerability that made Akash-1S operationally limited: its dependence on a ground-based illuminator that could be jammed or targeted. A fully autonomous kill chain extending to 50km is qualitatively different from the legacy system. Pralay's salvo capability is the more strategically consequential development: single-battery point defences can intercept sequential missiles; a coordinated multi-launcher salvo forces a volume of simultaneous intercepts that current Pakistani and Chinese theatre defences cannot guarantee. At a unit cost estimated well below BrahMos, Pralay can be deployed in numbers that saturate rather than probe. Combined with Akash-NG's verified combat-adjacent record (Akash-1S in Operation Sindoor) and the MRSAM's confirmed intercept (see [India-Israel elevated to Special Strategic Partnership after MRSAM's Sindoor combat debut](/ar/n/india-israel-post-sindoor-2026)), [India](/ar/entity/india) now has a home-produced air-defence and surface-strike stack that reduces import dependence in the highest-demand mission sets.

## What to watch

- IAF Akash-NG squadron activation timeline and whether the system is cleared for the Army Air Defence Corps as well.
- Army Pralay regiment deployment locations and whether they are forward-positioned in the Ladakh or Arunachal sectors.
- Export interest in Akash-NG following post-Sindoor attention to Indian air-defence systems (see [India's defence exports hit Rs 38,424 crore in FY26, up 63% as Sindoor validates buyers](/ar/n/india-defence-exports-record-fy26)).
- Whether Pralay's quasi-ballistic manoeuvrability is publicly quantified, which would affect arms-control notifications under India's commitment to the Hague Code of Conduct.
- DRDO's next development milestone: the Akash-2S (proposed 80km variant) and whether it enters the procurement pipeline.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **DD News (Government of India)** (India, en) — Government broadcaster's record of the December 23 2025 Akash-NG Final User Evaluation Trials, quoting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulating DRDO and BDL; confirms range extended to 50km via dual-pulse solid rocket motor and active radar seeker enabling simultaneous multi-target engagement.
  Source: https://ddnews.gov.in/en/akash-ng-final-user-evaluation-trials-drdo-december-2025/
- **DD News (Pralay)** (India, en) — Government broadcaster's report on the December 31 2025 Pralay salvo launches from Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island, Odisha), confirming two consecutive launches demonstrating salvo capability, solid-fuelled propulsion and a range exceeding 500km; DRDO described the test as validating the system's battlefield saturation role.
  Source: https://ddnews.gov.in/en/pralay-salvo-launch-abdul-kalam-island-december-31-2025/
- **The Print** (India, en) — 
  Source: https://theprint.in/defence/akash-ng-pralay-user-trials-december-2025/2789034/
- **Newsonair** (India, en) — 
  Source: https://newsonair.gov.in/2025/12/31/pralay-missile-salvo-test-success-drdo/
- **ANI** (India, en) — 
  Source: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/akash-ng-final-user-evaluation-trial-december-2025/
- **Defense World** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.defenseworld.net/2026/01/02/india-pralay-salvo-akash-ng-user-trials/

### Indian defence analysis
- **BharatShakti** (India, en) — Detailed technical account of the Akash-NG trials, breaking down the active radar seeker's kill chain versus the earlier semi-active configuration, the dual-pulse motor's range extension to approximately 50km from the 25-35km of Akash-1S, and the induction timeline for the IAF's first Akash-NG squadron.
  > "Akash-NG's active radar seeker and dual-pulse motor extend its engagement envelope to 50km and remove the launch-control radar dependency that limited Akash-1S in a jamming environment."
  Source: https://bharatshakti.in/akash-ng-final-user-trials-complete-50km-range-iaf-induction-2026/

### Indian defence-research community
- **IDRW** (India, en) — Analyses the Pralay salvo-launch demonstration, distinguishing the quasi-ballistic trajectory (manoeuvring mid-course) from conventional ballistic missiles and noting the operational implication: simultaneous salvos from dispersed launchers are designed to saturate adversary point-defence systems.
  > "The December 31 Pralay salvo test confirmed that multiple missiles can be fired simultaneously from dispersed launchers, testing the saturation mission that single-battery ballistic defences cannot reliably defeat."
  Source: https://idrw.org/pralay-salvo-capability-confirmed-december-2025-user-trials-2026/

### Indian policy commentary
- **InsightsOnIndia** (India, en) — Policy analysis contextualising both systems within India's Atmanirbhar Bharat defence indigenisation programme, noting that Akash-NG replaces Barak-8/MRSAM for the stand-alone IAF air-defence role and that Pralay's surface-to-surface capability was previously held only by Brahmos, filling a shorter-range gap.
  > "Akash-NG and Pralay together close the gap between Akash-1S's short-range intercept envelope and BrahMos's deep-strike range, giving India a layered offensive and defensive missile stack produced entirely domestically."
  Source: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2026/01/pralay-akash-ng-indigenisation-drdo-defence/

### Chinese state-aligned commentary
- **Global Times (China)** (China, en) — Chinese state media frames the Akash-NG and Pralay milestones as evidence of India's accelerating indigenisation of precision strike, noting that Pralay's 500km range covers Pakistani strategic installations and parts of the Tibetan Plateau, and calling for restraint in India's missile programme.
  > "India's simultaneous fielding of extended-range interceptors and quasi-ballistic strike missiles marks a qualitative shift in South Asian precision-strike capability that China says risks regional destabilisation."
  Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202601/1306789.shtml

## Across the graph
- Related: [[india-israel-post-sindoor-2026]], [[india-defence-exports-record-fy26]], [[india-us-mq9b-predator-2026]]
- Entities: India, Interceptor Stocks

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