Our Special Correspondent
Ananth Technologies, founded in 1992, has long been one of India’s silent but indispensable pillars in space and defence. Over the decades, the company has touched virtually every major satellite and launch vehicle programme, earning the trust of ISRO, DRDO, and other strategic agencies. Its expertise—spanning precision sensors, airworthiness protocols, and complex system integration—has made it a reliable backbone in missions where failure is not an option.
On November 25, 2025, the company marked a new milestone. ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath inaugurated the Ananth Centre of Excellence for Navigation (ACEN)—a visionary initiative designed to secure India’s long-term autonomy in navigation technologies. The presence of senior leaders from defence, space, and academia at the ceremony underscored one message: navigation supremacy is now a national priority.
Navigation today is far deeper than maps on our phones. It is the invisible infrastructure that drives national security, civil aviation, maritime safety, precision warfare, and space exploration. Without reliable navigation, a missile cannot strike its target, an aircraft cannot land safely, and a satellite cannot perform its mission. India has already experienced vulnerabilities—such as denial of GPS data during periods of tension—making one truth clear: foreign dependence is a strategic risk India can no longer afford.
A major gap lies in Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) of navigation systems. India’s armed forces operate five generations of aircraft and platforms, each built on different, often foreign, navigation technologies. Many of these systems are proprietary and tightly controlled. A single fault can force India to ship entire units overseas for repair, resulting in high costs, long delays, and compromised readiness. Without indigenous mastery over navigation MRO, true strategic autonomy remains incomplete.
This is where ACEN positions itself as a game-changer. Envisioned as a strategic nucleus for innovation, the Centre aims to address India’s most critical dependencies in navigation, inertial systems, and precision sensors. With this facility, India can leapfrog into next-generation capabilities, ensuring resilience, accuracy, and sovereignty across defence, aerospace, and civilian sectors.
Anchored in Vision 2035, ACEN lays out a bold roadmap for full-spectrum autonomy. The plan includes:
- Developing indigenous navigation sensors—MEMS, Fibre-Optic Gyros (FOG), Ring Laser Gyros (RLG), and emerging quantum technologies.
• Creating AI-driven fusion algorithms that integrate satellite, radar, inertial, and vision-based navigation for unmatched precision.
• Building civil-military synergy, where widespread adoption of NavIC in consumer devices lowers overall costs while strengthening defence supply chains.
• Driving triple-helix collaboration between industry, DRDO/ISRO, and universities to advance research and talent in navigation sciences.
Through ACEN, Ananth Technologies is not just building a facility—it is shaping a future-ready ecosystem. By 2035, India aims to deploy navigation systems that are fully indigenous, globally competitive, and insulated from geopolitical disruptions.
This initiative is a direct contribution to Atmanirbhar Bharat. It signals a clear national commitment: India’s defence and aerospace platforms must never again depend on foreign navigation systems. With ACEN, India is firmly charting its own course—confident, capable and sovereign.
