The Indian Air Force has handed a New Delhi-based startup one of the clearest endorsements a defence venture can get: a ₹135 crore contract. The deal, signed with Threye Interactive — a subsidiary of NewSpace Research & Technologies — is for the development of part-task simulators for the IAF's Mirage 2000 fighter jets.
Livefist reported the signing on 29 September 2026, and NewSpace confirmed it in a post on X on 30 September. Part-task simulators let pilots rehearse specific combat procedures — radar operation, target identification, weapon selection, threat response — on the ground, without burning expensive flying hours. Threye's system blends VR, flight simulation and real-time networking, enabling multi-crew exercises in a shared virtual battlespace.
What makes this story exceptional is the pipeline it travelled. The trainer was developed under the Ministry of Defence's iDEX programme (Defence India Start-up Challenge-5, in the modelling and simulation category) and completed IAF trials on the Mirage 2000 platform. This is the iDEX promise working exactly as designed: a startup builds a prototype through the innovation challenge, proves it in trials, and graduates to a full fleet-level procurement contract.
The economics matter too. Every simulated training hour saves the IAF the enormous cost of live fighter sorties while letting pilots drill edge-case scenarios — engine failures, contested airspace, degraded sensors — that can never be safely rehearsed in the air.
For India's deeptech and defence startups, Threye's ₹135 crore deal is proof that the government's innovation-to-procurement corridor is real, and that patient product development under iDEX can convert into institutional-scale revenue.
Why it matters for founders
The iDEX challenge-to-contract path is now proven at ₹135 crore scale. Defence startups that survive trials and certification can access procurement budgets that dwarf typical venture rounds — build for trials, and the contract can follow.