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Indian AWACS Moving Forward on 2 Fronts

19-May-2008 13:28 EDT

Related Stories: Asia - India, C4ISR, Contracts - Intent, Middle East - Israel, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, R&D - Contracted, Radars, Russia, Specialty Aircraft, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation

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E-707 Condor
Chilean Phalcon/ Condor
(click to view full)

In February 2006, “India’s Air Force Looks to Enhance Its Reach With Upgrades & Force Multipliers” discussed India’s growing shift toward aircraft that would give it the ability to patrol and act at extended ranges. In January 2004, India and Israel signed a $1.1 billion contract for 3 Phalcon airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, as part of a $1.5 billion tripartite agreement with Russia. The Prem PS-90 engines in the upgraded IL-76TD aircraft will make operation in India’s hot climates easier, and the system will also reportedly make heavy use of Russian electronics, including a partial glass cockpit.

Israel Aerospace Industries’ Phalcon system is built around an ELTA EL/M-2075 AESA L-band radar, then adds electronic and communications intelligence gathering (ELINT and COMINT) capabilities. The system can also receive transmissions from other air and ground stations, and uses sensor fusion to provide a complete picture of the battlespace. IAI had already delivered an earlier-model 707-based “Condor” system to Chile, and has created a Phalcon variant for Israel and Singapore that fits into a Gulfstream 550 business jet. India already operates the IL-76 as its strategic transport aircraft and aerial refueling tanker (IL-78), however, and made its decision accordingly.

Now reports are surfacing that India intends to extend its AWACs capabilities on 2 fronts, even as its original order will be delayed again…

IL-76TD
IL-76/A-50 AWACS
(click to view full)

India was supposed to receive the first A-50I/IL-76TD Phalcon in December 2007, but Uzbekistan’s Tashkent Aircraft Production Organization (TAPO) was late customizing the airframes. India’s first A-50I Phalcon underwent maiden flight tests in November 2007, and again in January and February 2008. India’s Phalcon will use a conventional AWACS radome mounted on top, rather than the front and side structural modifications made to Chile’s Condor and the G550 Gulfstream jets. Because the Elta radar scans in 360 degrees automatically, however, the radome will be fixed rather than rotating. Mission sensors and electronics are now being fitted, and IAI officials now believe flight certification will begin in May 2008, with first delivery set for September 2008. Follow-on deliveries are expected in April 2009 and August 2010.

On April 14/07, India Defense reported that India is pleased enough to pick up the option for 3 more IL-76 Phalcon AWACS aircraft, in a deal worth up to $2 billion. Jane’s Defence Weekly issued a concurring report later in the week, but placed the deal’s value at $1 billion. Assuming that the equipment sets are the same and inflation is 3% per year, note that repeating 2004’s $1.5 billion deal works out to about $1.7 billion by 2008. Delivery of these 3 additional planes would be expected to take place in 2011-12.

EMB -145 Eieye
EMB 145 Erieye
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The second report was carried in The Hindu. India has a great deal of territory to cover, and even 6 AEW&C aircraft can easily mean just 4 operational aircraft at any given time. The Indian Air Force appears to be taking the “brittle swords lesson” to heart, and is looking for another 3 small-mid size surveillance aircraft to act as counterparts to the larger Ilyushin Phalcons. While a G550 Phalcon would provide fleet commonality, India’s platform of choice has been Embraer’s ERJ 145 business/ regional jet. The Hindu reported that a contract is expected later in April 2008, with aircraft delivery beginning in 2011 and full operational capability by 2013. The 3 aircraft together are expected to cost around $300 million total when fully equipped.

The militarized ERJ 145 comes in several versions, including maritime surveillance and electronic intelligence versions. The most common variant, currently operated by Brazil and Greece, is the EMB 145 Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft1. It uses the same Saab Erieye AESA radar that will be mounted on Pakistan’s new Saab 2000 turboprop AEW&C fleet. There are some blind spots with its “dorsal blade” configuration, most notably to the front, but flight patterns can be planned around those gaps to ensure good coverage of the area in question.

The Hindu report did not specify the radar involved, except to say that it is “from the [Indian] Electronics and Radar Development Establishment”. A September 2005 ACIG report claimed that the radar would be similar to Saab’s Erieye, and the accompanying illustration from India’s DRDO Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) certainly looks very similar.

India’s state-owned DRDO research and development agency will be heavily involved in a number of areas. According to The Hindu, the Bangalore-based Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) is responsible for overall integration of the electronic systems, mission computer, display and data handling. CABS is reportedly working with the private sector firm Astra Microwave Products of Hyderabad to develop transmit-receive multimodules [JPG format] for the radar; doing so at a reasonable cost is always a challenge for AESA radars, however, and India’s experience with the type is limited. DRDO’s Defence Avionics Research Establishment will be involved with the jet’s self-protection systems, electronic warfare suites and communication support systems; their Defence Electronics Application Laboratory will be involved with the primary sensors, communication systems and data link; and DRDO’s Defence Electronics Research Laboratory will be involved with “counter-support measures.”

The Hindu report did say that under the agreement, Brazil’s Embraer will act as the overall system integrator, supplying the jets, mounting the radar and electronics on or into the EMB-145 fuselage, and ensuring that the altered jets retain acceptable performance, and handling flight recertification.

DRDO’s radar record is cause for some concern – the multimode radar being developed for the Tejas lightweight fighter isn’t performing properly yet, for instance, and foreign radars like the Elta M-2032 in India’s Sea Harriers are reportedly under consideration as substitutes in order to keep the already-late program on track. DRDO was also responsible for “Project Guardian/Airawat,” which suffered a disastrous project failure in 1999 when the HS-748 turboprop AWACS testbed aircraft crashed, killing several engineers and scientists who were critical to the project. The ERJ aircraft are the proposed successors to that effort.

Updates and Developments

May 16/08: The Calcutta Telegraph reports that the first 3 IL-76 Phalcons will be delayed:

“A source in the Indian Air Force has confirmed that the delivery of the first Phalcon will be delayed. It was expected in September but is now more likely to reach India only at the end of the first quarter of 2009… delivery of two Aerostat radars… will also be delayed.

This is the second time that the delivery schedule of the Phalcons has been disrupted. The original schedule envisaged the delivery of the first aircraft in November 2007, the second in August 2008 and the third in the second half of 2009…. The delays, however, have not dissuaded the air force from working through a proposal to ask for three more Phalcons in a follow-on order estimated at $2 billion.”

Footnotes

1 The terms AWACS and AEW&C can be used interchangeably. Many militaries are gravitating toward the more cubmersome “AEW&C” as standard nomenclature these days.

Additional Readings & Sources

  • Air Combat Information Group (Sept 12/05) – India’s flying Testbeds. Mentions the ill-fated HS-718 project, and adds an illustration of the planned ERJ-145 variant.