India is once again putting on the table an idea that seemed to have been shelved: using the Airbus A330 as the platform for a large airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. The concept is now linked to the future AWACS Mk3, a heavy-class system that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) are reportedly already considering for the 2030s, although without formal development approval yet.
According to idrw.org, sources close to the programme say the DRDO and the IAF have begun looking beyond the current Netra Mk2 project toward a future AWACS Mk3 (or Netra Mk3), conceived as a platform with greater dimensions, endurance, sensor capability and space for mission systems.
The idea means reviving, at least conceptually, a path India had already explored. At the end of the last decade, the DRDO studied the possibility of converting six A330s into large AEW&C aircraft fitted with an AESA radar capable of providing 360-degree coverage.
The project was considerably more ambitious than the later Netra Mk2. The A330 offered greater payload capacity, electrical power generation, endurance and internal space to install radars, operator consoles, communications systems and processing equipment. However, that initiative did not prosper, and India ultimately opted for a smaller and lower-cost solution based on the Airbus A320 family.
That path led to the Netra Mk2, currently in development on six Airbus A321s. The programme seeks to leverage a commercial platform larger than the Embraer ERJ-145 used by the original Netra, but without reaching the scale of a heavy AWACS.
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From the Netra Mk1 to the future Mk3
The first Netra allowed the IAF to field a locally developed AEW&C capability on a regional platform. Its two AESA antennas mounted on the fuselage provide approximately 240 degrees of coverage.
DRDO Netra Mk1A. Photo: IAF.
The Mk2 represents a major leap forward. Its next-generation radar will incorporate gallium nitride (GaN) technology and a third antenna installed in the forward section of the fuselage, bringing coverage to around 300 degrees. The aircraft will also integrate indigenous electronic intelligence and communications intelligence systems, electronic warfare, satellite communications, IFF and other mission systems.
The future Mk3 would target a different category. According to idrw.org, one of its central features would be full 360-degree coverage, through a large rotating radome or a fixed AESA architecture distributed across the fuselage.
The difference would not be limited to the radar’s range or field of view. A widebody platform would allow a larger number of operators, more mission consoles, expanded communications systems and significantly superior processing capability. In that sense, the AWACS Mk3 would be conceived as an airborne command centre, capable of coordinating large fighter packages, integrating information from other sensors and air defence systems, and contributing to the control of air and maritime operations over vast theatres of operations.
The A330, back on the scene
The eventual revival of the A330 is particularly significant because its characteristics had already been considered by India for a mission of this type.
The original concept envisioned six A330s equipped with a dual-band —L and S— AESA radar with four faces, with the aim of developing a strategic-range AEW&C capability. The initiative was later replaced by a more economical alternative based on A320 family aircraft, which ultimately evolved into the current Netra Mk2.
The information now published by idrw.org does not mean, however, that the IAF has selected the A330 again. There is still no formal approval for the AWACS Mk3 nor a defined platform for the programme. The A330 appears as one of the alternatives consistent with the requirements set for an aircraft of this category and with the studies previously carried out.
The difference is that this time the concept could benefit from the experience accumulated by the DRDO with the Netra systems and from the technological advances made during the Mk2’s development.
An ‘eyes in the sky’ architecture
For now, CABS, the DRDO’s Centre for Airborne Systems, is prioritising the completion of the Netra Mk2. The programme involves integrating and certifying a complex combination of AESA radar, electronic and communications intelligence, electronic warfare, satellite communications and processing systems developed in India.
That is why the AWACS Mk3 appears as a later phase in the evolution of India’s AEW&C capability, not as a replacement for the Mk2.
The logic would be to build a tiered architecture: medium-sized aircraft such as the Netra Mk2, complemented by a heavy platform capable of staying on station longer, carrying a larger complement of operators and performing theatre-level command and control functions.
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For the IAF, which must maintain surveillance over vast borders with Pakistan and China and operate in scenarios where mountainous terrain limits the coverage of ground-based radars, that leap would have considerable strategic value.
Thus, the conceptual return of the A330 is not simply about reviving a project from years ago. It represents the possible next step in an evolution that began with the Netra on the ERJ-145, moved through the A321 of the Mk2 and could culminate, during the 2030s, in India’s first heavy AWACS of national development.