India's 'Eye in the Sky' Is Now Fully Combat-Ready — Netra Mk-1 Gets Final Operational Clearance There's a quiet but powerful shift happening in India's skies — and it has been two decades in the making. India's indigenous Netra Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system received its Final Operational Clearance (FOC) on Thursday, marking the culmination of a development journey that lasted over two decades. (Bharat Shakti) For anyone tracking India's defence ambitions, this is a genuinely big deal. drdo-cabs-bengaluru-foc-ceremony-netra.jpg K So, What Exactly Is Netra? Think of Netra as a flying command centre — a highly sophisticated aircraft that sees everything happening in the sky, from enemy fighter jets to drones, missiles, and surface threats, long before they get anywhere close to Indian territory. Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at its Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) in Bengaluru, Netra is design...