Article Posted on : - Jul 19, 2010

India received it’s First Phalcon AWACS in May 2009. A file photo.

NEW DELHI (BNS): India is planning to purchase two more AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems), after the last of the three Israeli Phalcons already ordered is inducted in December.

According to a news report by The Times of India, India ordered three A-50EI variants fitted with Israeli-made Phalcon radar systems in 2004. The first aircraft arrived in May 2009 and the second in March 2010.

"We have already moved the case for two more AWACS. Phalcon AWACS are tremendous force-multipliers and will get their final operational clearance by October-November," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik told the Times of India.

The AWACS are slated to operate from the Agra airbase under Central Air Command.

IAF is also on course to induct a wide array of radars, from 19 LLTRs (low-level transportable radars) and four MPRs (medium-power radars) to four Aerostat and 30 indigenous medium-range Rohini systems, the news report added.

The AWACS is a tripartite venture amongst India, Russia and Israel. The Indian Air Force laid down the operational requirements in detail based on which the Israeli ‘Phalcon’ radar was mounted on the Russian IL-76 aircraft equipped with the more powerful PS-90A engines making it more advanced than many such systems.

The AWACS has many capabilities including Electronic and Signal Intelligence gathering. Once it is operationalised along with the Operational Data Link (ODL), Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) and the Air Force Net (AFNET), the IAF would have taken a definitive step towards Net Centric Operations.