DRDO has developed indigenous GaN tech for next-gen radars, electronic warfare: Def min report

Meena Mishra, director of DRDO’s Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL) led her team that is behind the successful development of indigenous GaN MMIC technology.

NEW DELHI: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully demonstrated and implemented indigenous Gallium Nitride Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (GaN MMIC) Technology for high-frequency defence systems that can support next-generation radars and electronic warfare systems, the defence ministry's latest annual report for 2025-26 has revealed.After working for years, DRDO developed the GaN MMIC technology in 2024 and helped India quietly entered an elite club of seven countries — US, Russia, France, Germany, South Korea, China — after the country was reportedly denied the technology by a western nation during the negotiations for a major fighter jet deal.In layman’s language, a GaN MMIC is a tiny, super-powerful computer chip built on a special chemical material that handles extremely high-frequency wireless signals without melting.

It’s an all-in-one chip that combines tiny parts—like transistors, resistors, and capacitors—onto a single piece of material to manage invisible wireless waves (microwaves).“DRDO has worked on cutting-edge defence technology and it has now matured,” a defence source told TOI.

GaN is a material with exceptional thermal and electrical properties, making it critical for advanced defence applications such as sensors, radars, satellites, and missiles.

“A single indigenous GaN chip, measuring 3.5 x 3 mm can deliver up to 30 watts of power and operate at speeds 300 times faster than silicon.

Indigenous GaN MMIC technology for application upto X band has been successfully demonstrated and implemented,” the ministry’s report said.“Indigenously fabricated S-band GaN High Electron-Mobility power bars, power amplifier, low noise amplifier and switch MMICs have been designed, fabricated and demonstrated,” the report added.Meena Mishra, director of DRDO’s Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL) led her team that is behind the successful development of indigenous GaN MMIC technology.

Over the course of more than 34 years, Meena has made significant contributions to semiconductor research and has been instrumental in the indigenous development of GaAs and GaN-based MMIC technologies for strategic applications.

Her research expertise spans GaAs MESFET-based MMICs, GaAs-based digital integrated circuits, and the modeling, characterisation, and design of high-frequency devices using GaAs and GaN technologies.Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines With rising demands for lighter and more compact power supplies in future combat systems, GaN/SiC technology provides a vital foundation for communications, intelligence, reconnaissance, and unmanned systems for both military and commercial sectors, including electric vehicles and renewable energy.