Swayam Raksha Kavach (“Self-Protection Shield”) is an advanced, integrated airborne electronic warfare (EW) self-protection suite developed by DRDO for the HAL Tejas Mk1A, combining an airframe-integrated radar warning receiver with an externally carried jammer pod to give the aircraft substantially improved survivability against modern radar-guided threats.[1]
DRDO began flight trials of Swayam Raksha Kavach on the Tejas Mk1A in October 2025, a milestone Indian defence media described as making Tejas Mk1A India’s first indigenous fighter to carry a genuinely stealth-enhancing, integrated self-protection EW capability rather than relying solely on legacy podded jammers.[2][3]
The suite pairs a radar warning receiver built into the airframe structure (reducing drag and radar signature compared to older pod-mounted RWR antennas) with an external self-protection jammer pod, allowing faster, more integrated detection-to-countermeasure response against hostile fire-control and missile-guidance radars. The combined system is designed to detect threat radar emissions earlier and apply electronic countermeasures more rapidly than the separate, less-integrated EW fits used on earlier Tejas variants.[3][4]
Swayam Raksha Kavach is positioned as a key survivability upgrade for the Tejas Mk1A fleet, intended to improve its odds against modern integrated air-defence systems and beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile threats fielded by regional adversaries, and represents a further step in DRDO/DARE’s long-running indigenous airborne EW development lineage that includes the earlier Tarang RWR.[2]
| Type | Integrated airborne self-protection electronic warfare suite |
| Developer | DRDO (DARE/associated EW labs) |
| Components | Airframe-integrated radar warning receiver + external self-protection jammer pod |
| Platform | HAL Tejas Mk1A |
| Flight trials began | October 2025 |
| Status (mid-2026) | In flight-test phase |