India has taken a significant step into high-end defence electronics with the successful development of Gallium Nitride Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (GaN MMICs), advanced semiconductor chips that form the backbone of modern military systems ranging from missiles and radars to warships and electronic warfare platforms.
Unlike conventional silicon-based devices, MMICs are fabricated using compound semiconductors, which offer faster switching speeds, higher power efficiency, and far greater resilience under extreme operating conditions. These characteristics make them especially suitable for demanding defence applications, where reliability at high voltages, temperatures, and frequencies is critical.
Gallium nitride, the material at the heart of the new chips, is particularly valued for its exceptional thermal and chemical stability. According to researchers, GaN devices can withstand temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit), far exceeding the limits of traditional silicon semiconductors. This allows systems equipped with GaN MMICs to operate with minimal signal loss even in harsh environments such as high-speed flight, naval operations, or battlefield conditions.
Despite their extremely small size — measuring just 3.5 by 3 millimetres — a single GaN MMIC can reportedly deliver up to 30 watts of power while operating at speeds roughly 300 times faster than silicon-based alternatives. Such performance enables more compact, powerful, and efficient radar and communication systems, improving detection ranges, targeting accuracy, and overall system responsiveness.
Compound semiconductor technologies also play a crucial role in advanced sensing. By converting motion, heat, sound, light, and pressure into electronic signals, these sensors are central to missile guidance, surveillance systems, and real-time monitoring of defence platforms.
The GaN MMICs were developed by Indian researchers as part of a broader push to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign suppliers for high-value defence semiconductors. Meena Mishra, Director of the Solid State Physics Laboratory, said the breakthrough was the result of sustained collaboration between her laboratory and teams at the Gallium Arsenide Enabling Technology Centre.
She noted that each chip undergoes an exacting fabrication and testing process, with every production cycle taking around 80 days and involving hundreds of precisely executed steps.
The achievement places India among a small group of countries — including the United States, France, Russia, Germany, South Korea, and China — that are pursuing technological self-reliance in advanced military electronics, a domain increasingly seen as critical to national security and strategic autonomy.
