After Operation Sindoor, it is clear that whoever sees the enemy first is the likely winner. A tiny technological edge in acquiring stealth capabilities while being able to breach the enemy’s stealth is the name of the game.
In terms of cloaking, India does not seem to be lagging. Prof Anantha Ramakrishna of the Department of Physics, IIT-Kanpur, goes so far as to say that India leads the world in stealth materials. The ‘metamaterial surface cloaking system’, a kind of super-camouflage, was unveiled in November 2024 and has since been licensed for commercialisation to a startup founded by Air Vice Marshall Praveen Bhatt. Both Ramakrishna and Prof G Shrikanth Reddy of IIT-Mandi have also developed optically transparent material for enhanced stealth; this can be used to cover giveaways such as canopies, wind shields and sensors.
Now, assuming that these materials provide adequate stealth capabilities against peering enemy radar systems, the question that follows is what India is doing in terms of penetrating the enemy’s stealth.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Netra Mk 1A programme is a step in this direction — it is an upgraded version of the Netra Mk 1, the indigenously developed ‘airborne early warning and control system’ (AWACS). Experts say that the Netra Mk 1A would use gallium nitride (GaN) modules as part of the radar’s transmitter and receiver units, instead of gallium arsenide (GaA).
Seeing far ahead
GaN, a semiconductor, enables radar systems to “see”, thanks to its ability to handle higher power output more efficiently. A radar’s range depends partly on how powerful the outgoing signal is. The more powerful the signal, the farther it can travel and bounce back with enough strength to be detected. Since GaN can handle higher voltages and currents, it can transmit and receive stronger pulses, which in turn means the radar’s signal travels farther into space to detect a farther target.
AWACS are a huge asset because they can pick up stealth intruders. Stealth aircraft are generally designed more against X-band waves, but can be picked up by L and S bands. These longer wavelength bands are good at detection, though not very good in terms of resolution and tracking. On the other hand, L and S bands are affected by clutter — trees, buildings, and interference by mobile phones; but from the top of an AWACS aircraft they can do a better job.
Beyond AWACS
The GaN-based radar is being fine-tuned for multiple frequency bands to enhance its detection capabilities. The Netra Mk 1A AWACS is, therefore, being developed as an answer to China’s advanced stealth fighter jets such as the J-35A. However, AWACS are not enough.
India is in need of space-based missile warning systems. Its ballistic missile detection is dependent on ground-based radars and imagery from earth-observation satellites. Work is on to fill this gap.
In October 2024, the government approved a ₹27,000-crore space-based surveillance phase III programme, to deploy 52 satellites in the lower-earth orbit, medium-earth orbit and geostationary ranges. These satellites will carry electro-optical, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and infrared sensors. The deployment is expected to start in 2027-28.
Electro-optical sensors are cutting-edge. The German Fraunhofer Institute, among others, develops these sensors. “Electro-optical sensors built into satellites will be a smart addition to ground-based air defence,” says Caroline Schweitzer, a research scientist at Fraunhofer. They can detect missile launches from the infrared signal of the missile’s exhaust plume. This means fire-control radars can be pre-instructed precisely, and countermeasures initiated faster. A satellite-based early warning system with electro-optical sensors would help gain valuable time.
“Even a few seconds can make all the difference,” Schweitzer says in a press release from the institute.
India seems to be moving towards the frontiers of both stealth and stealth detection technology.