IAF inaugurates first Dronathon-2026 with live drone and counter-drone trials at Pokhran Range
The Indian Air Force on Monday launched Dronathon-2026 at the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, beginning a three-day series of live demonstrations of indigenous unmanned aerial systems and counter-drone technologies in desert operating conditions.
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, inaugurated the event, which was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, the Indian Army and the Border Security Force. At the opening ceremony, he also released the IAF Unmanned and Autonomous Systems Roadmap, a document intended to give Indian industry clearer direction on the service’s future capability priorities.
Scheduled from 14 to 16 September 2026, Dronathon-2026 follows an Indian Air Force industry outreach exercise and brings together more than 20 defence companies, start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises, defence public sector undertakings and innovators. The participating firms are putting their systems through live trials at the range so the Air Force can assess how they perform against defined operational requirements in a demanding desert environment.
The event is being positioned as part of the broader push towards Atmanirbhar Bharat while also expanding the Air Force’s unmanned capabilities. Officials said unmanned systems are meant to complement manned aviation by extending reach, persistence, responsiveness and flexibility for commanders. The emphasis at Dronathon-2026 is on moving beyond laboratory-style demonstrations and evaluating operational impact, reliability and adaptability in contested conditions.
The systems being showcased include expendable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, loitering munitions, unmanned aircraft carrying electronic warfare payloads, logistics and delivery drones, mapping and surveying systems, and counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The programme also places attention on artificial intelligence, autonomous navigation, real-time data transmission, advanced payloads and swarm technologies.
One of the key demonstrations on the opening day was Vayu UTtaM, the Air Force’s indigenously developed multi-mode Unmanned Traffic Management system. In a real-time trial at Pokhran, the system detected and tracked both military and civil unmanned aircraft. According to officials, the capability is intended to help manage unmanned operations in increasingly congested airspace and to aid in identifying and mitigating unauthorised or rogue drones.
The potential uses of Vayu UTtaM extend beyond military applications to airspace safety, critical infrastructure protection, civil aviation and public safety. The Air Force said its approach to unmanned systems covers the entire ecosystem, including propulsion, sensors, payloads, communications, autonomy, electronic warfare, countermeasures and airspace management, rather than focusing only on airframes.
Officials also indicated that a second edition of Dronathon is expected in about six months, with the aim of maintaining engagement between users and developers. The live trials in Rajasthan are part of a wider effort to identify indigenous solutions that can be integrated into future Indian Air Force operations and to align industry, academia and research organisations with the service’s evolving requirements.
