Carrier AEW — Airborne Early Warning Requirement for Indian Carriers

PENDING

Uncontracted carrier airborne-early-warning requirement for INS Vikrant/Vikramaditya operations

Budget

N/A

Timeline

2026–2035

Sector

Indian Navy

Indigenisation

20%

PROCUREMENT TIMELINE

AON

Acceptance of Necessity — CCS/DAC approves the requirement.

RFI

CURRENT

Request for Information — industry capability survey.

RFP

ToC

CNC

Contract

Dev/Trial

Induction

INTEL SIGNALS

Procurement stalled at early stage

Open-source reporting shows the Navy still relies on Ka-31 helicopters for carrier AEW, while future options include indigenous deck-based helicopter/UAV concepts. No confirmed post-Ka-31 contract was found, so this row is kept as a requirement watch item with no budget value rather than a funded procurement.

RECENT INTELLIGENCE

India progresses AEW&C Mk 2 programme with new contracts - Janes

janes.com · 23 Jul 2026

CABS' Mk II AEW&C programme is based on A321 platform. India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has awarded two contracts in support of its

DRDO tests new airborne EW suite for LCA Mk 1A - Janes

janes.com · 31 Oct 2025

India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is flight-testing its new Swayam Raksha Kavach (SRK) airborne electronic warfare (EW) suite that will

India tests new airborne electronic warfare suite for Tejas Mk 1A - Janes

janes.com · 04 Nov 2025

India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is flight-testing its new Swayam Raksha Kavach (SRK) airborne electronic warfare (EW) suite that will

CONTENDERS / VENDORS

Kamov Ka-31 in service · HAL DBMRH concept · UAV AEW concepts

LATEST UPDATES

No updates published yet.