Tel Aviv. Israeli-developed Airborne Early Warning (AEW) systems, which is to be included in a new contract to be signed soon with the Indian government, will be an upgraded version with enhanced capabilities.
A deal that will include the purchase of Israeli-made AEW systems is about to be approved by the Indian government soon.
This development comes after India and Israel have accelerated the negotiations about the Indian Air Force (IAF) plan to acquire more Israel-built Phalcon type AEW systems.
The Indian Air Force, that already operates three Israeli made Phalcon long range AEW systems on Russian made IL-76 transport aircraft, wants another two to enhance its capabilities.
The proposed deal is estimated at US$1.2 billion and will include a more advanced version of the Phalcon made by Elta, the electronics subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
The Indian Air Force is currently operating the three IL-76 equipped with the Israeli developed Phalcon long range AEW and another two smaller AEW systems carried by Embraer 145 business jet.
But the Indian operational needs are for additional long range AEW systems, and IAI is offering an upgraded version with added capabilities that make the system an “all in one” AEW, ELINT and COMINT integrated system, that according to Israeli source has “matched capabilities.”
The negotiated deal is based on manufacturing some of the sub systems in India to comply with the Make in India policy of the Indian government.
In 2004, India purchased three such aircraft from Israel, based on the Russian Ilyushin 76, in which IAI’s subsidiary system ELTA was installed for US$1.1 billion.
The negotiations have been accelerated following the recent incident between India and Pakistan in February, in which the Indian Air Force found itself inferior to Pakistan Air Force, which is equipped with seven early warning aircraft.
The systems that will be put on the two new AEW aircraft will combine new capabilities developed by ELTA.
One will be based on a new very advanced integrated Electronic Support Measures/ Electronic Intelligence (ESM/ELINT) that is combined with its ELM-2060 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) reconnaissance pod.
The integration of the ESM/ ELINT capability in the pod was achieved through advances in hardware miniaturization which allowed for the addition of systems in the current pod configuration.
Based on ELTA’s ELK-8385 proven interferometric ESM/ ELINT system, the integrated dual-use pod, designated ELI-2060E, can currently deliver radar imagery with ELINT target overlay.
This capability allows the operator to collect enhanced multi-INT (multi-intelligence) data during a single reconnaissance flight leg, increasing both the probability of detection of ground targets and providing enhanced identification capabilities. Real-time exploitation and uplinked mission updates improve intelligence collection efficiency by focusing the imaging at the real-time areas of interest.
While so far this capability has been offered in a pod for smaller aircraft in the IL-76, it will be integrated into the combined systems.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
