Opinion: What Is AWACS And Why Does India Need More Flying Radars?

An AWACS is a radar on an aircraft. Put it high up and it sees what ground radars cannot, over the horizon and past the mountains

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Six. That is how many airborne radar aircraft India has to watch two hostile borders, and the case for AWACS in India starts there.

An AWACS is a radar on an aircraft. Put it high up and it sees what ground radars cannot, over the horizon and past the mountains. The crew inside separates friend from foe and talks fighters onto targets.

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NETRA AEW&C AND PHALCON: THE FLEET INDIA HAS

The Phalcons came first. Three Israeli radars on Russian IL-76 transports, in service since 2009. They see all the way round, and they are still the best India has. The Netra AEW&C fleet is homegrown.

DRDO built the radar and fitted it on small Embraer jets. Three fly from Bathinda, and they received final operational clearance on 25 June 2026. The radar covers about 240 degrees, so there is a blind sector behind the aircraft.

Six more Netra Mk1A aircraft were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council in March 2025. Since then, little visible movement.

1.India currently operates a total of six airborne radar aircraft to monitor its borders.

India........

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