BENGALURU: The Indian Navy has awarded a contract to Bengaluru-based defence technology firm Tonbo Imaging under the ADITI 3.0 innovation framework for the integration and commissioning of a High Power Microwave (HPM) system for naval platforms.Confirming the development, the firm said on Tuesday that “the programme is being supported by the ministry of defence’s (MoD) iDEX initiative and the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). Under the contract, the company will carry out system integration and commissioning activities, followed by the supply of production units after successful validation and acceptance.”HPM systems are considered a critical directed-energy capability possessed by only a handful of countries. They are designed to disable or degrade enemy electronics, sensors and unmanned systems using concentrated electromagnetic energy rather than conventional kinetic weapons.Such systems are increasingly seen as an effective counter to drone swarms and asymmetric threats, particularly in maritime environments where unmanned systems are becoming more common.ADITI, short for Advanced Defence Technology Incubation, is a Government of India initiative aimed at supporting the development and validation of advanced defence technologies before induction into service.Arvind Lakshmikumar, managing director and CEO, Tonbo Imaging, said the programme reflected the company’s long-term investments in indigenous HPM technologies, including vacuum tube-based systems and critical sub-systems.He said vacuum tube-based sources remain essential for operational HPM systems because they can generate the extremely high peak power and pulse energy levels needed for effective target engagement. Solid-state RF sources, while useful in many radio-frequency applications, currently cannot match those power levels within practical operational limits, he added.The contract also marks Tonbo Imaging’s expansion beyond electro-optics into advanced defence electronics, embedded systems, directed-energy technologies and integrated mission systems.