IAF is developing AGNI, an advanced combat simulation system designed to train pilots and military commanders for modern warfare. Unlike older simulators, AGNI will connect fighter jets, drones, missiles on one real-time network. The system will simulate air, land and sea battles using virtual reality, electronic warfare and satellite imagery.
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is procuring a next-generation combat simulation system, designated AGNI – air combat, ground planning and network integrated that marks a significant departure from conventional single-platform flight simulators. The AGNI simulator system is intended to replicate the complexity of modern, multi-domain warfare and will be open to personnel from all three services.
The move reflects a broader recognition within the Indian defence establishment that aerial combat has evolved well beyond the cockpit.
Radar networks, satellite data links, electronic jamming, drone swarms and cyber operations now shape the outcome of air battles as decisively as the aircraft themselves. Existing training infrastructure, designed largely around individual pilot proficiency, has struggled to keep pace.
AGNI framework
Under the AGNI framework, a fighter pilot in a simulated cockpit, an air defence controller tracking hundreds of targets on a panoramic display, and a ground commander coordinating assets from all three services will operate simultaneously on a single integrated network, each affecting the others’ environment in real time.
The system is structured around four components. The fighter controller section will feature large panoramic displays capable of rendering more than a thousand tracks at once, covering the full range of aerial threats, including fighter aircraft, helicopters, drones, transport aircraft and missiles. Controllers will train on threat prioritization and intercept decisions under simulated electronic warfare conditions, including jamming and spoofed signals.
Four high-fidelity cockpits will replicate the flight characteristics and weapons systems of aircraft currently operated by the IAF, including the Sukhoi-30 MKI, Mirage 2000 and Rafale, as well as adversary platforms such as the F-16, F-22 and China’s J-10 and J-11.
The cockpits will incorporate motion feedback to simulate takeoff, manoeuvres and weapons release, and will use virtual and mixed-reality technology overlaid on high-resolution satellite imagery. Pilots will train across degraded visibility conditions, cloud, rain, fog and night operations.
The ground environment section, described in the request for proposals as the most technically complex element, will integrate platforms from the army, navy and air force on a single three-dimensional display.
Tanks, missile batteries, radar installations, warships, submarines, aircraft carriers and ballistic missile defence systems will all be represented.
The section will also simulate the effects of smoke, explosions, missile trails and electronic interference.
A dedicated supervisor section will allow instructors to modify scenarios in real time, introducing additional threats, degrading communications or worsening weather and will record all audio and video for post-exercise analysis.