The government has approved the production of next-generation  Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems(AWACS) under the AWACS India project, which is expected to significantly improve the strength of the Indian Air Force and place India among the few countries that have developed such systems on their own.

This project, which is estimated to cost around ₹20000 crore, will give the Indian Air Force six advanced AWACS aircraft that can detect enemy planes, ground sensors and other equipment from very long distances while also working as flying command centres.

With the official approvals now granted, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will work together with several Indian companies and Airbus to install a complex antenna and other systems on the A321 aircraft.

The Indian Air Force already has six A321 aircraft that were earlier taken from Air India. These planes will now go through major structural changes and will be fitted with various systems, including a dorsal fin on top, which will allow full radar coverage in all directions.

The project is expected to be completed in about three years and will give Indian companies important experience in building and handling advanced systems right from the development stage. It will include a fully indigenous mission control system along with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar technology.

The AWACS India programme, which is also known as Netra MkII, is being led by DRDO, which also recently received government approval to begin prototype production of the fifth-generation Advanced Multirole Combat Aircraft.

This is the first time that an Airbus aircraft will be used for such a system, which until now has mainly been dominated by Boeing. Using the Airbus platform may also open new possibilities for India to export such systems in the future.

At present, the Indian Air Force operates smaller early warning aircraft under the Netra programme, which have been used successfully during conflicts with Pakistan. It also operates three IL76 Phalcon systems that were developed jointly with Israel and Russia, but this fleet has been facing serious technical problems and low availability.