The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched the third edition of the Mehar Baba Competition-3 (https://indianairforce.nic.in/mehar_baba). The theme of MBC-3 is ‘Collaborative Drone-Based Surveillance Radars.’ The competition aims to encourage innovation in advanced drone and radar technologies. Meritorious participants will receive development funding from the IAF, and the top three winners will be honoured with awards. The registration for MBC-3 starts from 27 April 2026.

The competition was earlier announced by state defence minister Sanjay Seth during Aero India 2025. The aim of MBC-3 is to develop a proof of concept for collaborative swarm of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) working as an airborne radar capable of detecting, tracking and reporting aerial targets in a contested environment and provide their accurate location at a centralised monitoring station. The IAF invites Indian industries, start-ups, academic institutions and research establishments to participate in the competition and be a part of the next wave of aerospace innovation.  Interested participants may obtain full information related to the competition from the ‘Vision Document’ available on the official website https://indianairforce.nic.in/mehar_baba.

This pioneering model of the competition has successfully cultivated a robust ecosystem and has generated orders worth approximately Rs 2,000 crores for the unmanned systems industry. The first two editions of MBC were conducted on the themes ‘Swarm Drones for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations’ and ‘Swarm Drone Based Foreign Object Debris Detection on Aircraft Operating Surfaces’ respectively. The IAF received a very encouraging response from industry, start-ups and academia for these competitions. MBC has proven to be a frontrunner in bridging the gap between the Indian industry, academia and users by providing them a common platform to work on critical defence related technologies.

Mehar Baba Competition is an IAF initiative to encourage indigenous development of niche aviation technology. Since its launch in 2018, MBC has experienced overwhelming participation from the industry and academia. The competition has inspired academia, start-ups and industry to develop novel indigenous solutions for tackling real-world aviation challenges.

MBC is conducted in honour of the legendary air veteran Air Commodore Mehar Singh DSO MVC, affectionately known as Mehar Baba. He was born in the district of Lyallapur in 1915 and joined the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell in 1934. Mehar Baba earned the respect of his fellow airmen with his flying skills. At the age of 29, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for effective leadership and personal bravery. Out of his many achievements, the mission led by him carrying the first contingent of the Indian Army in a Dakota aircraft to Srinagar in 1947 is the most memorable. He also has the distinction of being the first to land at Leh, the highest airstrip in the world then. Mehar Baba was the first IAF recipient to be awarded with Maha Vir Chakra.