On 22 July 2026, DRDO's Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS) signed the two contracts that move India's Netra Mk2 / AEW&C Mk-II programme from design into execution — a Rs 19,000 crore ($2.0 billion) effort to convert six ex-Air India Airbus A321 passenger jets into airborne early warning and control aircraft for the Indian Air Force, with induction targeted for 2032–33. The headline that almost everyone missed is who does what: AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) strips the airframes to "green" configuration, Adani Defence Systems and Technologies (ADSTL) becomes the Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) for the indigenous mission systems (radar, sensors, mission computers, comms), and Airbus Defence and Space modifies the jets in Spain before CABS+ADSTL integrate and flight-test them for CEMILAC and DG AQA certification. It is the first time a private Indian company has been entrusted with a large-scale airborne mission platform — and the way the work has been sliced is a textbook on decomposing a hard-tech programme across four organisations on three continents.
Verdict: For anyone who tracks Indian industrial capability — defence, aerospace, semiconductors, or AI infrastructure — Netra Mk2 matters less as a "spy plane" story than as the clearest signal yet that DRDO can farm out the riskiest parts of a mission-critical system to Indian private industry while keeping integration authority in-house. The seven-year runway is the real risk; the partnership structure is the real opportunity.
Last verified: 2026-07-26. Volatile programme — timelines, partners, and contract values have already shifted twice since 2021. Re-check before quoting cost or induction dates.
- Cost: ₹19,000 crore (~$2.0B), per Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval, July 2025.
- Aircraft: 6 Airbus A321s, formerly flown by Air India, now with the Air HQ Communication Squadron.
- Three named partners: AIESL (airframe conversion), Airbus Defence & Space (military modification, in Spain), ADSTL (mission systems DcPP).
- Induction target: 2032–33; first developmental flight trials expected ~2029.
- Radar: dorsal-fin-mounted AESA with ~300° coverage, plus a nose-mounted secondary antenna for forward coverage.
- First: the largest airborne mission platform ever handed to an Indian private firm.
What is the AEW&C Mk-II / Netra Mk2 programme?
A: It's India's follow-on airborne early warning and control programme — a flying radar-and-command-post that succeeds the Embraer EMB-145-based Netra Mk1 / Mk1A and sits alongside the three Russian-berth Israeli Phalcon AWACS already in IAF service. The "Mk2" swaps the small Embraer jet for the much larger Airbus A321, which buys you more internal volume, more electrical power, more operator consoles, and more endurance — and therefore room for a more capable radar and mission suite. DRDO officially designates the project AWACS (India).
An AEW&C aircraft does three things at once that ground radar cannot: it sees low-flying threats (cruise missiles, drones, fighters) hundreds of kilometres away by looking down over the horizon, it fuses that picture with electronic intelligence (ELINT) and communications intelligence (COMINT), and it acts as an airborne command post that vector fighters onto targets. India operates far fewer of them than it wants; this programme triples the indigenous fleet.
Who is actually building it, and how is the work split?
A: Four parties, with clean — and unusually well-drawn — lines of responsibility. This is the part the headlines got wrong.
| Partner | Location | Role in Netra Mk2 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CABS (DRDO) | Bengaluru / New Delhi | Nodal lab; overall integrator; designs radar & mission systems; runs flight trials with IAF | PIB, 22 Jul 2026 |
| AIESL (AI Engineering Services Ltd) | New Delhi | Converts six A321 airframes from commercial to "green" configuration (strip-out for mil use) | PIB |
| Airbus Defence & Space | Spain (OEM) | Modifies the green airframes to military standard; returns the certified airframe | Janes, 23 Jul 2026 |
| Adani Defence Systems & Technologies (ADSTL) | Ahmedabad | Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) for mission systems — radar, sensors, mission computers, comms, IFF, EW | PIB; Wikipedia citing Adani FY24 annual report declaring ADSTL L1 for Netra II |
The contracts were signed on 22 July 2026 in New Delhi by the Director CABS, with the CEO of AIESL and the Head of Airborne Platform at ADSTL, in the presence of Defence Secretary and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh. The ministry did not disclose individual contract values; the $2.0B envelope is the whole programme, set by the CCS in July 2025.
ADSTL is the breakout story here. Per Adani Enterprises' FY24 annual report (referenced in the Wikipedia programme page), the firm was declared L1 (lowest bidder) for the Netra II mission-system work — making it the first private Indian company to lead a large-scale airborne mission platform. The contract also reportedly covers integrated logistics, MRO, and technical support for up to three decades, which is where the long-tail recurring revenue lives.
How does a passenger jet become an AEW&C aircraft?
A: Through a five-step build-convert-modify-integrate-certify pipeline that will take roughly seven years end-to-end. Strip the plane, harden it, fit-out the radar, integrate the mission systems, then certify it for military flight.
Convert to "green" (AIESL, India). Take the six ex-Air India A321s — currently flown by the Air HQ Communication Squadron — and strip the cabin, seats, galley, commercial avionics, and insulation back to a bare airframe ("green configuration"). This is aircraft carpentry at scale.
Modify to military standard (Airbus, Spain). The green airframes go to Airbus Defence & Space, which adds structural reinforcements, auxiliary power generation, mission-equipment mounts, cooling runs, and the dorsal-fin hardpoint for the radar. The DAC cleared this Airbus rework package (and the related cost escalation) on 29 December 2025.
Build the mission systems (ADSTL + CABS, India). While the airframes are in Spain, ADSTL working with CABS develops and produces the radar, ESM/ELINT, comms/COMINT, IFF, mission computers, and operator workstations. ThePrint reports 100-plus individual radars/sensors across the eventual fleet, so this is a systems-of-systems integration job, not a single box.
Integrate (CABS + ADSTL, India). Once the modified airframes come back from Airbus, CABS — with ADSTL as DcPP — fits and integrates the indigenous mission suite, runs power and cooling to every console, and wires the airplane.
Certify (CABS + ADSTL + IAF). Flight testing is jointly conducted with the Indian Air Force to win airworthiness certification from CEMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification) and the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DG AQA). Only then does the platform become an operational IAF asset.
How much does Netra Mk2 cost, and how has the budget moved?
A: ₹19,000 crore (~$2.0 billion) at the Cabinet Committee on Security's 17 July 2025 approval — up from the ₹11,000 crore cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council back in September 2021. The ₹7,000 crore ($730 million) cost escalation is the additional Airbus airframe-modification work that was later identified (cleared by the DAC on 29 December 2025). Per Janes, CABS itself quoted the project at ₹10,990 crore (~$1.1B) as recently as February 2024.
| Source | Date | Programme value |
|---|---|---|
| DAC acceptance of necessity | Sep 2021 | ₹11,000 crore (~$1.49B) |
| CABS-reported cost | Feb 2024 | ₹10,990 crore (~$1.1B) |
| CCS approval | 17 Jul 2025 | ₹19,000 crore (~$2.0B) |
The headline number is "₹19,000 crore," but anyone quoting the project should carry the qualifier: that envelope includes the Airbus Spain rework. It is not the mission-systems contract value alone.
When will the aircraft actually join the IAF?
A: Induction is targeted for 2032–33, with the first aircraft entering developmental flight trials around the end of 2029 or early 2030. All six should be delivered by late 2033 or early 2034. That timeline is consistent with comparable AEW&C programmes worldwide, where two-year developmental test campaigns are the norm after first flight.
The honest read is that this is a seven-year runway from contract to first operational aircraft, and a clean eight to the full fleet. Programmes of this complexity slip — the cost escalation from ₹11K to ₹19K crore already demonstrates that. Treat the 2032–33 date as the planned date, not a promised one.
What does "mission systems" actually mean here?
A: Everything that turns a stripped jet into a flying radar-and-command-post — and it is harder than the airframe. ADSTL as DcPP is responsible for:
- The AESA radar (active electronically scanned array), dorsal-fin-mounted, with ~300° coverage plus a secondary nose-mounted antenna for forward coverage. This is the core sensor;per DRDO/Wikipedia programme spec.
- Electronic support measures / ELINT and communications / COMINT systems that listen for and classify enemy emissions.
- Secure communications for voice and data relay back to fighters, ground stations, and other AWACS.
- Identification friend-or-foe (IFF) equipment.
- Mission computers and operator workstations — the consoles humans actually sit at.
- Electronic warfare suite and indigenous sensor integration.
ThePrint's reporting that the fleet will pack 100-plus individual radars and sensors gives you the order of magnitude: this is a software-intensive systems-integration programme as much as an aerospace one. ADSTL is not buying a kit; it is co-developing and then sustaining the kit for up to 30 years.
Why put Adani Defence on the mission systems, not just the airframe?
A: Because India wants private industry to own a share of a frontier programme — not just bolt parts onto a state design. DRDO's playbook is now familiar: keep integration authority and the radar design inside CABS, but spin out production, sustainment, and a large slice of the mission-system build to a private DcPP. The bet is that the private firm brings programme-management discipline and a 30-year support spine DRDO itself cannot easily staff; the risk is that if ADSTL underperforms, the sovereign schedule slips with it.
It's the same structural bet India is making in adjacent complex-systems bets — chip packaging at Paras Defence (which pivoted from defence optics to OSAT semiconductors), jet-engine turbine forgings at HAL (the HAL–Safran LEAP deal), and heavy AI-infrastructure construction at (OpenAI's 1 GW TCS/HyperVault data-centre project). Each case is the same shape: pick a private champion, hand it a frontier build, integrate it with a state laboratory or state-owned prime, and accept the multi-year timeline.
What this means for you
If you build or invest in hard-tech systems, three transferable lessons:
- Decompose by who can absorb risk, not by who's cheapest. Airframe stripping stayed with the MRO (AIESL); airframe modification went to the OEM with the type certificate (Airbus); the mission-system integration went to a private firm with a 30-year sustainment obligation (ADSTL). Each piece went to the partner who could actually carry that specific risk for a decade.
- Plan for one cost escalation before flight, and one schedule slip after. This programme went from ₹11K → ₹19K crore on the airframe side before the mission systems were even contracted. Build that ~70% contingency expectation into your capital plan from day one.
- Integration authority is the asset. DRDO kept CABS as integrator. The most leveraged seat in a systems-of-systems build is the integrator — the firm that owns the interfaces and the certification path. If you can own integration in your stack, you own the schedule.
If you're tracking the Indian public-market angle, ADSTL is the listed subsidiary worth watching under the Adani Enterprises umbrella. The Netra Mk2 contract is the single clearest demonstration to date that India's private defence capex programme is producing recurring revenue, not just one-off orders — and that the model is exporting into adjacent aerospace and semiconductor bets.
For a wider view of how India's private-sector industrial frontier — from defence to space to AI infrastructure — is being built, see Can India build its own SpaceX? and Tamil Nadu's $59B export push.
FAQ
Q: What is the Netra Mk2 deal value? A: ₹19,000 crore (~$2.0 billion) for the full programme — six A321-based AEW&C aircraft plus airframe conversion, Airbus modification, mission-system development, integration, and certification. Approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security on 17 July 2025.
Q: Why Airbus A321 and not a new Embraer like Netra Mk1? A: The A321 is a larger narrow-body with far more internal volume, payload, electrical power, and endurance than the Embraer EMB-145 used in Netra Mk1/1A. That extra room is what allows a more capable radar suite, more operator consoles, and longer on-station time.
Q: Who is the mission-systems partner, and is it Indian? A: Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Limited (ADSTL), based in Ahmedabad, is the Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) for the mission systems. Per Adani Enterprises' FY24 annual report, ADSTL was declared L1 bidder for the Netra II work — making this the first large-scale airborne mission platform given to an Indian private company.
Q: When will Netra Mk2 enter the IAF? A: Induction is planned for 2032–33, with first developmental flight trials around end-2029 or early 2030 and full fleet delivery by late 2033 or early 2034. Defence programmes routinely slip; treat this as the planned date.
Q: What radar does Netra Mk2 use? A: An indigenous active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, dorsal-fin-mounted, providing approximately 300° coverage, supplemented by a nose-mounted secondary antenna for forward coverage. The suite also includes ELINT/COMINT (electronic and communications intelligence) capabilities.
Q: Where do the aircraft get converted? A: AIESL strips the six ex-Air India A321s to "green" configuration in India. The green airframes then go to Airbus Defence & Space in Spain for modification to military standard before returning to India for mission-system integration by CABS and ADSTL, and flight certification by CEMILAC and DG AQA.
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