Airborne Early Warning Aircraft for India
11 Oct, 2000 · 420
Wg Cdr NK Pant enumerates the advantages to inducting airborne early warning systems into the Indian Air Force
Acquisition of airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft also called Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) is an inescapable necessity for the IAF if it wants to retain its cutting edge in the battles of the future. An AEW system can detect an air space intrusion more than 300 kilometres away provinding enough time to take necessary countermeasures. Since the Indian defence research and development organisation (DRDO) has failed to design a suitable AEW platform after wasting two, there is no alternative but to acquire such a force multiplier from abroad.
India was also scouting for this system in
Israel , which has become the world leader in force multipliers.
Israel ’s recent cancellation, under the
US pressure, of a planned $250 million AEW aircraft contract with
China has opened an unexpected window of opportunity for
India to clinch a favourable deal for this airborne radar system named Phalcon. The Chinese, who are engaged in modernising their antiquated Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) , had attached considerable importance to this deal and were annoyed on its abrupt cancellation.
China was a sensitive issue for
Washington as it would have affected the military balance between
China and
Taiwan besides providing the PLAAF an added capability to co-ordinate offensive air strikes on the island. The cancellation of the sale has placed the Israelis in a quandary; since they want the Americans to find new customers for these expensive AEW planes. As a commercial proposition,
Israel will to gain if it sells these two planes to
India , despite inviting
Beijing ’s ire and possible objections from the
US . Indications are that the Israelis are keen to see this deal through.
Israel ’s Boeing 707 mounted AEW system was undertaken in the early 1980s around the same time when DRDO launched a similar programme in
India using a HS-748 Avro medium transport plane as the platform. In less than a decade, the Israel Aircraft Industries was able to design an excellent airborne phased-array radar.
The IAF was depending on traditional Russian sources for this sophisticated system. The Russian version of AWACS evaluated was a A-50 Mainstay mounted on a IL-76 heavy freighter aircraft and it was reportedly taken on lease and deployed for familiarisation training of IAF crews. In addition ,
The Phalcon’s sale to
The Phalcon, provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications needed by senior armed forces commanders. The development work for
This phased array system provides improved radar performance resulting in better detection and tracking capabilities. It has a range of more than 350 kilometres for detecting low-flying targets over land and sea and much more for highflying targets. The radar consoles display computer-processed data in graphic and tabular form on video screens enabling operators the perform surveillance, identification, weapons control, battle management and communications functions. The radar and computer subsystems on the Phalcon can collect detailed battlefield information as events occur. This includes position and tracking information on enemy aircraft and ships, and the location of friendly aircraft and naval vessels. This information can be sent to commanders at controlling formation headquarters to monitor the ongoing air battle and initiate quick offensive or defensive measures. If the Phalcon which has more than eight hours endurance in the air without refuelling, is inducted into the IAF’s air defence system, it will be able to detect, identify and track airborne enemy forces far from the Indian borders to direct fighter-interceptor aircraft onto enemy targets. Moreover, its flying mobility will provide it a greater chance of surviving in warfare the stationary ground based radar stations.
The Israeli designed AEW system with a price tag of $250 million for two aircraft is very competitive and affordable. Other comparable systems such as the US E-3 Sentry using the Boeing-767 airframe as its platform, are prohibitively costly at double the cost. The IAF will certainly improve its operational capabilities by having such airborne state-of-the- art technological systems in its inventory; it has been projecting requirement to the government for long. Since the nation’s air power can deter and dominate the hostile air force equipped with nuclear weaponry only through electronic superiority, it is imperative that these electronic eyes in the sky be urgently provided to the IAF to counter low level hostile intrusions which ground based air defence radars may not be able to detect.
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