Trishul is a guided SAM like Akash but unlike the medium range Akash, Trishul is a short range missile and developed under the IGMD program. It was designed to defend naval vessels against missile, also short range low level targets and as a short range SAM on land.

Trishul is named after the Hindu god Shiva’s trident. Here are the specifications of the missile:

Range: 9-12 Km

Payload: 5.5-12 Kg

Weight: 130 Kg

Length: 3.1 m

Trishul development program has been involved in a lot of controversies and was almost shut down in 2008 (exact date Feb 27, 2008) as it had massive cost overruns almost touching a million. Here is what Defence Minister at that time George Fernandes stated in Rajya Sabha about the Trishul missile program

Trishul missile had been delinked from user service, though it would be continued as a technology demonstrator.