India's Netra AEW&C fleet achieves final operational clearance

The Indian Air Force's (IAF's) Netra Mk 1 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft entered service in 2017. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)

The Indian Air Force's (IAF's) fleet of three Netra (Eye) Mk 1 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft has achieved final operational clearance (FOC).

Officials from India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) transferred the platform's FOC certificate to the IAF during a ceremony in Bangalore on 25 June. The FOC signifies that the Netra Mk 1 has met “all performance reliability, safety, and operational requirements,” Rajalakshmi Menon, DRDO's Director General (Aero) told Janes.

According to Menon, FOC status was delayed until domestically developed electronic support measures (ESM) and radar warning receiver (RWR) systems were successfully integrated with the platform.

Based on the Embraer EMB‑145I airframe, the Netra Mk 1 was developed by DRDO's Bangalore-based subsidiary Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS). The programme began in 2002 when the IAF defined its requirement for an AEW&C system on the platform, Menon said.

She added that the first Netra Mk 1 achieved initial operational clearance (IOC) in 2015 and entered service in 2017. The service accepted the second aircraft in 2019, with the third inducted in 2023.

According to CABS, fleet “has fulfilled its specified operational objectives and is capable of delivering its full range of surveillance, command and control, and battle-management functions in accordance with user requirements”.

The Netra Mk 1 is designed to detect and track adversarial units, direct IAF fighter aircraft, and generate an air and ground picture for command and control (C2) centres.