Bengaluru, Sep 13 (IANS): State-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi to deliver its surface-to-air Akash missile systems to seven more squadrons of the Indian Air Force at a cost of Rs 5,357 crore over the next three years, the defence behemoth said on Friday.

"As a turnkey contract with specialist infrastructure, the systems will be commissioned in three years at seven Air Force bases across the country," said the city-based company in a statement here.

The company supplied the medium-range missile defence system to six Air Force squadrons in 2015-16 against an earlier order by the MoD.

The missiles are designed and developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Ltd for BEL's radars and control centres across the country.

"An Akash system comprises a 3D passive electronically scanned array radar and four launchers with three missiles each, interlinked," said the statement.