Jaisalmer, September 15, 2026 – Air Force Vice Chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit inaugurated the first Indian Air Force Dronethon-2026 at Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer. Senior officers of MoD, HQ IDS and representatives of Indian Army and BSF were present in this inauguration ceremony held yesterday on Monday.
Dronathon-2026 is an IAF initiative aimed at directly engaging with the Indian unmanned systems industry and evaluating emerging technologies under real operational conditions. The three-day event, organized from 14 to 16 September 2026, will bring together more than 20 leading defense companies, start-ups, MSMEs, DPSUs and researchers from India's rapidly growing unmanned systems ecosystem.
The IAF views unmanned systems as an important complement to manned aviation, providing commanders with additional options to increase reach, sustained response and accessibility of air operations. During the droneathon, participating companies and researchers will showcase their unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and associated technologies at the Pokhran range.
These demonstrations will include a variety of operational capabilities including surveillance and reconnaissance, autonomous operations, swarm technology, electronic warfare and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS). The central focus of Dronathan-2026 is to move from technology demonstration to operational impact. Systems are being evaluated for their reliability, effectiveness in demanding and competitive environments, as well as their ability to adapt to evolving operational requirements and emerging threats.
During the inaugural ceremony, VCAS also released the 'IAF UAS Roadmap', which provides further clarity on capability priorities for the Indian industry. The roadmap aims to facilitate focused innovation and enable unmanned airborne systems industry, academic and research institutions to align their efforts with the future requirements of the IAF.
On the inaugural day of Droneathon-2026, the Indian Air Force successfully demonstrated the key capability of “Vayu UTtaM”, its indigenously developed multi-mode Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system. During its real-time demonstration at Pokhran, it detected and tracked both military and civilian UAS. This capability is designed to facilitate coordinated management of UAS operations in increasingly crowded airspace, while also supporting the identification and timely remediation of unauthorized or rogue drones. With the increasing proliferation of UAS, airborne UTtaM has potential applications beyond the military sphere, including airspace security, critical infrastructure, civil aviation, and public safety related areas.
Dronethon-2026 further strengthens the IAF's commitment to self-reliance in unmanned systems, with the focus expanding beyond airframes to the complete ecosystem, including propulsion, sensors and payloads, communications, autonomy, electronic warfare, counter-insurgency and airspace management.