Work Halted on India’s AWACS
Air Force Claims DRDO Design Fails To Meet Requirements
Yet another of India’s high-profile defense projects is facing delays due to criticism from the military service for which it was intended.
The Air Force has said the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO’s) $500 million effort to design and develop an airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) fails to meet the military’s requirements.
A senior DRDO scientist said that the Air Force’s objections have halted work on the AWACS program at the Bangalore-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), a premier DRDO aeronautics laboratory.
A senior Defence Ministry official said the DRDO has been directed to re-evaluate the project. It also will be scrutinized by the ministry and defense forces, he said.
India will not be without an AWACS capability, however. In 2004, a $1.1 billion contract was signed with Israel for the Phalcon radar, which would be mounted on three Russian-built Il-76 aircraft. The delivery of the Phalcon-mounted AWACS planes will begin in mid-2007.
A senior Air Force official said the problems with the indigenous effort include the Embraer EMB-145 aircraft proposed as the AWACS platform, which cannot fly 10-plus hours or at an altitude above 40,000 feet, which are the minimum requirements of the defense forces.
In addition, the service official said, the surveillance radar has a range of only 300 kilometers and coverage area of 240 degrees, less than required.
Call for Closer Cooperation
The Air Force official said that the DRDO, awarded the work in September 2004, did not work closely with the end-users to set the technical parameters.
The DRDO must work hand-in-hand with the users, the Defence Ministry official said, and cannot ignore the objections raised by the Air Force.
The agency, in consultation with the Air Force, will set new technical parameters for the AWACS program, which is likely to be completed and cleared by the Air Force by mid-2007, the DRDO scientist said. The likely in-service date, therefore, will slip from 2012 to 2016.
The government approved a DRDO proposal in 2004 to develop an AWACS capability. The approval followed Pakistan’s deal with Sweden to mount Ericsson’s Erieye radar on Saab 2000 aircraft.
India’s program calls for three AWACS aircraft that can be deployed with all three military services as needed. The Air Force is the lead service on this project.
The primary systems and subsystems for the program include:
• A phased-array radar.
• Identification Friend or Foe system.
• Microwave data link.
• Electronic support measures.
• Operator display consoles with tactical software.
• Air-to-air voice and data links.
• Satellite communication links.
• Search-and-rescue capabilities.
An earlier effort by the DRDO to develop an indigenous AWACS capability was suspended in 1999 following the crash of the Airborne Surveillance Platform during trials. •
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