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The Indian Air Force announced on 8 September 2026 that it will hold Dronathon-2026 at the Pokhran range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, from 14 to 16 September 2026.
The three-day event covers Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS) through static displays and live tactical demonstrations.
Focus areas are surveillance and reconnaissance, autonomous operations, swarm technologies and electronic warfare.
Domestic defence manufacturers, start-ups, innovators and technology experts will take part, in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat push for an indigenous defence ecosystem.
Pokhran, in the Thar Desert, is India's principal live-fire military demonstration range and the site of the 1974 and 1998 nuclear tests.
The Government of India's self-reliance initiative in manufacturing and technology, which in the defence sector is pursued through indigenous design, development and production rather than imports.
Key: Dronathon-2026 is positioned as a platform under this vision: instead of buying finished drone and counter-drone systems abroad, the IAF is inviting Indian manufacturers, start-ups and innovators to demonstrate their systems in a field environment.
Air arm of the Indian Armed Forces; organiser of Dronathon-2026. Raised on 8 October 1932.
The Pokhran field firing range lies in Jaisalmer district in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan, close to the India-Pakistan border region. Its open terrain and restricted access make it India's main venue for live-fire trials and large-scale military demonstrations, and it is also where India conducted its nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998.
A series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India at the Pokhran test range in May 1998; India had tested there once before, in 1974.
The IAF's firepower demonstration, held at the same Pokhran range in February 2026 with more than 130 aircraft; President Droupadi Murmu witnessed it.
Described as the IAF's largest exercise, it also began at the Pokhran field firing range in Jaisalmer district in April 2024.
A tri-service firepower demonstration at Pokhran in March 2024, witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, showcasing indigenous weapon systems.
General Awareness > Defence exercises and equipment
General Awareness > Defence and Current Affairs
Unmanned Aerial System - the whole system, not just the aircraft: the air vehicle, ground control station, communication links and payloads such as cameras, sensors or weapons.
Counter-Unmanned Aerial System - technology to detect, track, identify, disrupt or neutralise hostile drones, using radar, radio-frequency detection, jamming, directed energy or kinetic interception.
Multiple unmanned platforms operating as a coordinated group through networked control or autonomous algorithms, so that the group behaves as one weapon rather than several.