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India’s indigenous Netra Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system, “eyes in the sky,” received Final Operational Clearance (FOC) on Thursday. It marks the culmination of a development effort that has lasted over two decades. The certification officially confirms the platform’s readiness for full operational deployment with the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The clearance was awarded at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) in Bengaluru, nearly eight years after the system was granted Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) in October 2017.
Welcoming the milestone, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, said the programme had delivered all the capabilities envisaged by the IAF.
“Netra has been a part of the Indian Air Force from before also, but it is a remarkable day in the sense that whatever we envisaged in this programme has been delivered in full. It is a remarkable achievement. But we are not going to stop here. We have other programmes in the offing, and that’s what the country needs, and that’s what we expect our scientists, DRDO and the scientific community outside in the country to deliver,” he said.
The IAF currently operates three Netra aircraft with No. 200 Squadron based at Bhisiana in Punjab. The platforms have already been deployed on operational missions, including during Operation Sindoor, where they conducted airborne surveillance and battle management. The FOC signifies completion of all user trials, system validation and certification in the aircraft’s full operational configuration.
The Netra programme traces its origins to 2003, when the IAF and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began studies for an indigenous airborne surveillance capability aimed at reducing dependence on imported systems. The government sanctioned the project in 2004, with CABS designated as the lead laboratory.
Three Embraer EMB-145 aircraft were procured from Brazil in 2008 as the airborne platform. The first aircraft, equipped with an indigenous Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar mounted inside a dorsal radome, undertook its maiden flight in 2011 and was formally handed over to the IAF during Aero India 2017. The second and third aircraft were inducted in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
Mounted on the EMB-145, Netra’s AESA radar provides nearly 240-degree coverage and can detect aerial targets at ranges of up to 375 km. The aircraft is equipped with electronic and communication intelligence suites, satellite communications, self-protection systems and beyond-line-of-sight data links.
The platform is capable of detecting hostile aircraft, cruise missiles and other airborne threats, fusing inputs from multiple sensors and disseminating a real-time air picture to fighter aircraft and ground command centres, significantly extending surveillance beyond the horizon of ground-based radars.
However, Netra remains an AEW&C platform rather than a full-fledged Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). Its smaller Embraer airframe imposes limitations in terms of radar coverage, endurance, operating altitude and the number of mission crew that can be carried onboard.
By comparison, the IAF’s three Israeli-origin Phalcon AWACS mounted on IL-76 aircraft provide near-360-degree radar coverage, greater endurance and substantially higher battle management capacity, enabling them to control larger fighter packages over longer distances.
The importance of such force multipliers has grown as air warfare has become increasingly network-centric, integrating fighters, aerial refuellers, drones, ground-based air defence systems, and command centres into a common operational picture. Experiences from Operation Sindoor have reinforced the need for a larger fleet of airborne surveillance assets.
At present, the IAF operates only six airborne early warning platforms – three Netra AEW&C aircraft and three Phalcon AWACS. Service estimates indicate a requirement for at least 18 aircraft to sustain simultaneous operations along the western and northern fronts while accounting for maintenance cycles and training commitments.
The shortfall is particularly significant as Pakistan is assessed to field a larger AWACS inventory, while China operates several dozen airborne early warning aircraft across multiple variants. India’s limited fleet of six ageing IL-78 aerial refuellers further constrains the IAF’s ability to generate sustained air operations.
To address the capability gap, two indigenous programmes are in the pipeline. The Netra Mk-1A will comprise six upgraded EMB-145 aircraft fitted with enhanced electronic warfare suites, longer-range radars capable of detecting drones and low-observable targets, and deeper integration with the IAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS).
The more ambitious Netra Mk-2 programme, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security last year at an estimated cost of Rs 19,000 crore, will utilise six Airbus A321 aircraft acquired from Air India. The aircraft will carry a more powerful indigenous radar with a detection range exceeding 500 km, additional radar arrays to improve coverage, greater endurance and substantially enhanced onboard processing capability, bringing it closer to the performance of dedicated AWACS platforms.
The IAF is also understood to be examining a future A330-based AWACS Mk-3 concept for the next decade, featuring a fixed AESA radar housed within a conventional rotodome to provide true 360-degree coverage and significantly enhanced airborne surveillance capability.
Team BharatShakti
