With Pakistan stealing a swift march in the “eyes in the sky” arena and China already way ahead, India is now going to launch its own AWACS (airborne warning and control system) programme.
“Clearances are underway” to initially develop two AWACS aircraft, with four more to follow at a later stage, under the new AWACS-India project to be executed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and its Bangalore-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), Times of India reported on Tuesday. “Under it, 360-degree AESA (active electronically scanned array) radars will be mounted on large aircraft like IL-76, Boeing or Airbus,” TOI said, citing its sources.
Potent force-multipliers like AWACS or AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) systems have changed the entire nature of air warfare because they can detect incoming aerial threats, ranging from fighters to cruise missiles, much before ground-based radars.
They also serve to direct air defence fighters during combat operations with enemy jets and also help in tracking troop build-ups.
Pakistan already has four Swedish Saab-2000 AEW&C aircraft, with four more Chinese ZDK-03 AWACS in the pipeline. China has around 20 AWACS, a mix of new and old systems, sources say.
But India has only three Phalcon AWACS mounted on IL-76 aircraft, under the $1.1 billion tripartite agreement among India, Israel and Russia finalised in 2004, despite being confronted with two potentially hostile fronts, the newspaper said. The case for two additional “follow-on” Phalcon AWACS, with a range of over 400-km and 360-degree coverage like the first three, has run into some rough weather due to sharp cost escalation. Moreover, DRDO’s ongoing mini-AWACS project, under which indigenous AEW&C systems are to be mounted on three Embraer-145 jets obtained from Brazil for $210-million, has also slipped after being approved in October, 2004, at a cost of Rs 18 billion.
