Overview
- The DRDO handed the Final Operational Clearance to the IAF on Thursday, June 25, 2026, formally certifying Netra for unrestricted combat use after years of trials and service evaluation.
- Netra is an indigenously developed airborne early‑warning and control platform built on an Embraer EMB‑145 that integrates an AESA radar, identification friend‑or‑foe (IFF), electronic support measures, mission computers and secure datalinks to detect, track and manage aerial threats.
- IAF and defence officials say Netra has been used operationally since its 2017 initial clearance and supported missions including the 2019 Balakot strikes and Operation Sindoor in May 2025, while public reports differ on whether two or three Netra aircraft are currently in service, a discrepancy that affects near‑term fleet availability.
- DRDO and IAF officials dedicated the FOC to the eight personnel killed in the January 11, 1999 ASP crash, noting the programme’s multi‑decade arc from early Project Guardian work through renewal in 2004 to today’s certification.
- The government has approved further Netra work including six Mk‑1A aircraft and a proposed Mk‑2 A321‑based programme, a step that officials and market reports say will unlock substantial procurement and industry supply opportunities and could spur export interest.