Jaisalmer: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has inaugurated its first Dronathon-2026 at the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer, marking a significant initiative to engage directly with India’s rapidly evolving unmanned systems industry and evaluate emerging technologies under realistic operational conditions.
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS), inaugurated the three-day event on September 14. The inaugural ceremony was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, the Indian Army and the Border Security Force (BSF).
Scheduled from September 14 to 16, 2026, Dronathon-2026 brings together more than 20 leading defence companies, start-ups, MSMEs, DPSUs and innovators from India’s unmanned systems ecosystem.
Focus on Operational Capability
The IAF considers unmanned systems an important complement to manned aviation, offering commanders additional capabilities to enhance the reach, persistence, responsiveness and flexibility of air operations.
During Dronathon-2026, participating companies and innovators are demonstrating their Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and associated technologies at the Pokhran range.
The demonstrations cover a broad spectrum of operational capabilities, including:
- Surveillance and reconnaissance
- Autonomous operations
- Swarm technologies
- Electronic warfare
- Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS)
A key objective of the exercise is to move beyond technology demonstrations towards assessing operational effectiveness. The participating systems are being evaluated for reliability and effectiveness in demanding and contested environments, as well as their ability to adapt to changing operational requirements and emerging threats.
IAF Releases UAS Roadmap
On the opening day, the Vice Chief of the Air Staff released the ‘IAF UAS Roadmap’, providing greater clarity to Indian industry regarding the IAF’s future capability priorities. The roadmap is intended to support focused innovation and encourage the unmanned airborne systems industry, academia and research organisations to align their efforts with the future requirements of the Indian Air Force.
Indigenous ‘Vayu UTtaM’ Demonstrates UTM Capability
A key highlight of the opening day was the successful real-time demonstration of ‘Vayu UTtaM’, an indigenously developed multi-mode Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system of the Indian Air Force.
During the demonstration at Pokhran, the system detected and tracked both military and civil UAS. The technology is designed to support coordinated management of unmanned aircraft operations in increasingly congested airspace, while enabling the identification and timely mitigation of unauthorised or rogue drones. With the growing proliferation of unmanned aircraft systems, the technology could also have potential applications beyond the military domain, including airspace safety, critical infrastructure protection, civil aviation and public safety.
Strengthening Atmanirbharta in Unmanned Systems
Dronathon-2026 reinforces the Indian Air Force’s focus on Atmanirbharta in unmanned systems, with the initiative extending beyond aircraft platforms to the broader technology ecosystem. This includes areas such as propulsion, sensors and payloads, communications, autonomy, electronic warfare, countermeasures and airspace management.
Through Dronathon-2026, the IAF is providing Indian industry and innovators with an opportunity to demonstrate emerging unmanned technologies in realistic operational environments while helping align indigenous capabilities with the future requirements of India’s air operations.