Defence Electronics Hits the Compound Layer: DRDO's GaN Push for Radar and EW
- DRDO has demonstrated indigenous GaN semiconductor technology aimed at next-generation radar and electronic-warfare systems.
- Coverage cites Solid State Physics Laboratory work on four-inch silicon-carbide wafer processes and compact GaN chips delivering up to 30 W at far higher power density than silicon.
- GaN is a dual-use compound semiconductor critical to AESA radars, EW, defence communications and power electronics — not a consumer-logic story.
- Strongest next evidence: production partners, qualified MMICs in fielded radars and EW suites, and displacement of imported GaN/GaAs content in bills of materials.
- DRDO has demonstrated indigenous GaN semiconductor technology aimed at next-generation radar and electronic-warfare systems.
- Coverage cites Solid State Physics Laboratory work on four-inch silicon-carbide wafer processes and compact GaN chips delivering up to 30 W at far higher power density than silicon.
- GaN is a dual-use compound semiconductor critical to AESA radars, EW, defence communications and power electronics — not a consumer-logic story.
- Strongest next evidence: production partners, qualified MMICs in fielded radars and EW suites, and displacement of imported GaN/GaAs content in bills of materials.
- Economic Times (13 Sep 2026): https://m.economictimes.com/news/defence/drdo-develops-indigenous-gan-technology-for-next-gen-radars-electronic-warfare-tiny-3-53-mm-chip-delivers-up-to-30w-power-defence-ministry-report/articleshow/134191238.cms
- Jagran (13 Sep 2026): https://www.jagran.com/news/national-drdo-gallium-nitride-tech-boosts-indias-defense-capabilities-40372279.html
The development
DRDO has developed indigenous gallium nitride (GaN) high-frequency semiconductor technology for next-generation radars and electronic-warfare systems, according to a Defence Ministry report carried on 13 September 2026. The devices rest on GaN-on-silicon-carbide processes associated with the Solid State Physics Laboratory. Reporting cites a single indigenous GaN chip measuring about 3.5 x 3 mm that can deliver up to 30 watts of power and switch roughly 300 times faster than a conventional silicon device. Intended applications include active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, electronic warfare, missile seekers, advanced communications and unmanned systems.
30 W — power delivered by a single 3.5 x 3 mm indigenous GaN chip, per the Defence Ministry report; GaN-on-SiC is the enabling process.
Why it matters
India's semiconductor debate is usually framed around logic fabs and advanced nodes. Much of the defence-electronics dependency sits one layer down, in compound semiconductors. AESA radar front-ends, jammer modules and high-power radio-frequency chains are strategic consumables: if the chips are imported, sustainment, repair and wartime surge are imported too. An indigenous GaN path — wafer process, device, MMIC and packaging — is how India tries to close the compound-semiconductor layer of its defence-electronics stack rather than only the platform outline.
The Techadyant view
Treat this as a materials-and-devices signal, not a finished industrial base. A lab demonstration and wafer-process claims must still cross qualification, yield, second-source packaging and insertion into production radars and EW suites. Compound semiconductors belong in both the semiconductor-ecosystem frame and the defence-electronics chokepoint frame; the strategic test is productionisation, not the announcement.
What to watch
- Named production or development partners beyond SSPL and DRDO labs
- Insertion of indigenous GaN MMICs into specific radar or EW programmes
- Wafer diameter roadmap and yield data — four-inch is a start, not the end
- Overlap with commercial GaN power-electronics and telecom demand
- Import-substitution metrics in DPSU and private radar bills of materials
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