India sells Akash missiles to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan — SkimNews
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- India sold its Akash short-range surface-to-air missile system to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, confirmed by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh earlier this month in an interview with Asian News International; contract values were not disclosed.
- The Akash system can simultaneously engage multiple targets at ranges up to 25km and includes protections against electronic jamming, per India's Defense Ministry; Singh called it one of the country's 'success stories.'
- The Akash was 'battle-tested' during India's four-day conflict with Pakistan in 2025, according to Indian defense officials — a credential analysts say could encourage Central Asian buyers to consider other Indian hardware.
- Central Asian countries are turning to India because Russia's export capacity has shrunk as Moscow prioritizes domestic needs amid its Ukraine war, according to Aleksei Zakharov, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
- India's defense exports rose about 62% in the last financial year to $4.1 billion, reaching more than 80 countries, as New Delhi seeks to balance China's growing role as a military supplier in Central Asia.
- Armenia, India's first foreign Akash customer in 2022, has signed nearly $2 billion in defense contracts with New Delhi since 2020, including rocket systems, counter-drone systems, and anti-tank missiles.
- BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile India co-developed with Russia, remains its most high-profile export, with deliveries to the Philippines and deals signed with Vietnam, plus discussions underway with Indonesia.
Why it matters: Central Asian buyers now have a cost-effective, battle-tested alternative to Russian air defense at a moment when Moscow's export capacity is visibly constrained by its domestic war demands — and India's $4.1 billion defense export pipeline (up 62% last year) gains two new customers while mounting a commercial challenge to China's footprint in the region.
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