DRDO NETRA-2026 Puts Electronic Warfare at the Heart of Future Battlefield Technology
Electronic warfare (EW) has emerged as one of the most important elements of modern warfare as militaries increasingly compete not only with conventional weapons but also for control of the electromagnetic spectrum.
This strategic shift was highlighted at NETRA-2026, a national seminar organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on electronic warfare, digital twins and mission-critical system design.
The two-day seminar began on August 11, 2026, bringing together more than 200 participants from the Indian Armed Forces, DRDO, ISRO, defence public sector undertakings, academia and the private industry.
The event focused on emerging technologies that are expected to influence the design and deployment of India’s future defence systems.
NETRA-2026: Key Areas of Focus
The seminar is addressing several critical areas of defence technology, including:
- Electronic Warfare
- Digital Twin technology
- Artificial Intelligence
- Radar systems
- Radio-frequency systems
- FPGA design
- Mission-critical systems
- Digital engineering
- Model-based systems engineering
- Counter-drone technologies
A hands-on workshop was also scheduled as part of the programme to provide participants with practical exposure to emerging technologies.
DRDO Highlights Changing Nature of Modern Warfare
DRDO Director General (Electronics and Communication Systems) B K Das inaugurated NETRA-2026 in the presence of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) CMD Manoj Jain and MathWorks’ Sunil Motawani.
During the inauguration, Das highlighted how the nature and economics of warfare are changing rapidly.
According to the DRDO leadership, modern conflicts are increasingly witnessing asymmetric and saturation attacks, where relatively inexpensive technologies such as drones can pose significant challenges to sophisticated and expensive military platforms.
This creates a major requirement for defence forces: sophisticated weapons alone may not be sufficient. Militaries must also develop cost-effective methods of neutralising threats and ensure that advanced defence systems can be manufactured and deployed in adequate numbers.
Layered Defence Architecture Will Be Critical
One of the important themes highlighted at NETRA-2026 is the need for a layered defence architecture.
Future battlefield protection is expected to combine multiple technologies rather than depend on a single weapon system.
Such an architecture could integrate:
Missiles + Radars + Electronic Warfare + Directed Energy Weapons + Drones + Artificial Intelligence
The combination of these capabilities can provide different layers of detection, identification, tracking and response against conventional and emerging threats.
The increasing availability of low-cost drones makes such layered defence particularly important. A defence system designed to counter only sophisticated aircraft or missiles may not be economically sustainable against large numbers of relatively inexpensive unmanned systems.
What Is Electronic Warfare?
Electronic warfare (EW) refers to military operations involving the electromagnetic spectrum.
Modern armed forces depend heavily on electromagnetic technologies for:
- Radar
- Radio communications
- Satellite communications
- Navigation
- Sensors
- Data links
- Command-and-control systems
- Weapon guidance
- Networked military platforms
Electronic warfare allows military forces to detect, analyse, protect against and potentially exploit electromagnetic activity associated with an adversary.
In a contested environment, control of the electromagnetic spectrum can become as important as control of physical terrain.
Three Broad Dimensions of Electronic Warfare
Electronic warfare is commonly understood through three broad functions:
Electronic Support Measures (ESM):
Detection, interception and identification of electromagnetic emissions to provide information about potential threats.
Electronic Attack (EA):
Actions designed to disrupt, degrade, deceive or deny an adversary’s use of electromagnetic systems.
Electronic Protection (EP):
Measures designed to protect friendly communications, radars, sensors and other systems from electronic attack or interference.
Together, these capabilities contribute to maintaining operational effectiveness in a highly networked battlefield.
Why Electronic Warfare Is Becoming More Important
Modern military platforms increasingly depend upon interconnected electronic systems.
A fighter aircraft may rely on radar, communications, navigation, electronic sensors and data links. Similarly, unmanned aerial vehicles and precision weapons may depend upon navigation and communication technologies.
This creates new vulnerabilities.
An adversary may attempt to:
- Jam communications
- Interfere with navigation signals
- Disrupt radar operations
- Deceive sensors
- Interfere with data links
- Exploit electromagnetic emissions
- Disrupt networked military systems
Importantly, these actions do not necessarily require physically destroying a platform.
A technologically advanced military therefore needs the ability to operate effectively even when the electromagnetic spectrum is heavily contested.
Digital Twins: Bringing Defence Engineering Into a Virtual Environment
Another major theme of NETRA-2026 is the increasing role of digital twin technology.
A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical system that can be used to model, simulate, analyse and optimise its behaviour.
In defence engineering, digital twins can potentially help engineers study complex systems before expensive physical prototypes and field testing.
For example, a digital representation of a defence system could allow engineers to examine:
- System performance
- Component interactions
- Potential failures
- Environmental effects
- Software behaviour
- Maintenance requirements
- Design alternatives
This can help shorten the development cycle and reduce the gap between digital design and field-ready systems.
Artificial Intelligence and Defence Technology
Artificial intelligence is also becoming increasingly important in electronic warfare and mission-critical defence systems.
AI can potentially assist with processing enormous quantities of sensor and electromagnetic data, identifying patterns and supporting faster decision-making.
The combination of AI, radar, electronic warfare and digital engineering could significantly improve the ability of defence systems to identify and respond to rapidly changing threats.
However, mission-critical military applications also require high levels of reliability, validation, cybersecurity and human oversight.
Drones Are Changing the Economics of Warfare
The rapid expansion of drone technology has become one of the most significant developments in modern military operations.
Small unmanned systems can potentially provide surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting and attack capabilities at comparatively low cost.
This creates an economic challenge for conventional air-defence systems.
If a relatively expensive interceptor is used against a large number of inexpensive drones, the defender could face an unfavourable cost exchange.
Consequently, defence planners are increasingly looking at a combination of:
- Electronic warfare
- Counter-drone systems
- Directed-energy weapons
- Guns
- Missiles
- Radar
- Artificial intelligence
- Unmanned systems
The objective is to develop a multi-layered and economically sustainable approach to air and drone defence.
FPGA and Mission-Critical Systems
NETRA-2026 is also focusing on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology and mission-critical system design.
FPGAs are programmable semiconductor devices that can be configured for specialised processing applications.
They can be particularly useful in systems requiring high-speed and specialised computation, including areas such as radar and signal processing.
Mission-critical defence systems, meanwhile, require exceptional levels of reliability because a failure can have serious operational consequences.
This makes design validation, simulation, testing and digital engineering increasingly important in defence technology development.
Industry-Academia-Defence Collaboration
The participation of the Armed Forces, DRDO, ISRO, defence PSUs, academia and industry reflects the growing importance of collaboration in developing advanced military technologies.
Modern defence systems increasingly combine expertise from several fields, including:
Electronics + Software + Artificial Intelligence + Communications + Radar + Semiconductor Technology + Systems Engineering
No single organisation can necessarily develop every component of such complex ecosystems independently.
Seminars such as NETRA-2026 therefore provide opportunities for researchers, defence organisations, industry professionals and academic institutions to exchange knowledge and explore technological cooperation.
India’s Future Battlefield Will Be Highly Networked
The battlefield of the future is expected to be significantly more connected than traditional battlefields.
Aircraft, ships, ground forces, drones, satellites, radars and command centres may operate as interconnected elements of a wider information network.
This creates enormous advantages—but also new vulnerabilities.
The ability to protect communications, detect hostile electromagnetic activity, maintain navigation and operate sensors under interference will become increasingly important.
As a result, electronic warfare is no longer simply a specialised military capability. It is becoming an essential component of overall combat power.
NETRA-2026: Key Takeaways
The major messages emerging from the DRDO seminar include:
- Electronic warfare is becoming central to modern military operations.
- Control of the electromagnetic spectrum is increasingly important on the battlefield.
- Low-cost drones are changing the economics of warfare.
- Layered defence systems are essential for dealing with diverse threats.
- Digital twins can accelerate defence-system development and testing.
- AI can enhance analysis and decision-support capabilities.
- Radar and RF technologies remain fundamental to modern warfare.
- Mission-critical systems require rigorous digital engineering and validation.
- Industry, academia and defence organisations need greater collaboration.
- Future warfare will increasingly involve competition in both physical and electromagnetic domains.
Conclusion
The opening of DRDO NETRA-2026 highlights a fundamental transformation taking place in military technology.
Future conflicts will not be determined solely by the number or range of conventional weapons. The ability to sense, communicate, protect networks, control the electromagnetic spectrum, counter drones and rapidly process information could become equally decisive.
The emphasis on electronic warfare, artificial intelligence, digital twins, radar, RF systems and mission-critical engineering at NETRA-2026 demonstrates India’s focus on developing technologies suited to this changing battlefield.
As defence systems become increasingly connected and autonomous, electromagnetic superiority and technological resilience are likely to become critical components of national security.
Source: The Times of India, August 13, 2026. The article above is a rewritten, SEO-friendly analysis based on the information supplied in the source text.