sancho
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The reason the IAF have likely pursued additional PHALCONs is that this is a much quicker solution (2-3 years from signing ) to be delivered than the AWACS (India) project which is at least 6-7 years away.
That and because of the EMB DRDO AWACS! They get a perfect hi lo mix, they only need the required number of aircrafts nothing else.
The A-50 is the only example of a cargo a/c being converted into a AWACS
That's not correct mate, nearly all Chinese AWACS are based on transport aircrafts and the new Airbus Phalcon AWACS is based on the C295 too.
The MTA, if it is even big enough and capable of fitting the DRDOs radome, is still a long way away from its first flight and it would make sense to go for an established and proven a/c rather than an unproven and new a/c like the MTA- sounds like a recipe for disaster, one project holding up another and so on and so forth.
MTA is in the size of the ZDK, or the C130 and they all had AWACS versions with rotodome. The C295 Phalcon and E-2s are even smaller and have a rotodome, let alone the fact that the Arivat project was based on a smaller Avro with rotodome, so the size of MTA is not a problem at all. In fact it offers the perfect mix of internal space and flight performance, with the capability to fit a rototdome, which you can see if you compare the specs:
(A50 and MTA range at max payload)
It offers the same cabin size of the A50, just in a shorter version. Has comparable speed and ceilling as most of the possible jet engined platforms, but needs only half the take off distance of commercial airliners, which gives IAF far more airbases as options to operate it (crucial in war times, when air bases gets destroyed!). It also uses only 2 engines compared to the 4 in the A50, which reduces the operational costs as well.
Development of the aircraft is likely to be finished far earlier before DRDO will field the new radar. The First flight is still expected around 2016 and fitting the radome to it isn't a big deal with Russian assistance, unlike with partners that don't have experience wit it. Don't forget that much of it is based on the IL76, or diverted from the IL 476 upgrade, which should make the development far easier.
The main advantage of the MTA will be the freedom India will have, be it to modifications of the aircrafts, or even such a simple thing like ordering additional once at reasonable costs. We have seen how costs of the A50 as well as the Phalcon systems jumped for the follow 2 orders. So when the DRDO system is meant to make us more independent from foreign manufacturers, the platform should be independent too and MTA!
As for commonality the A330 will be a good option considering the IAF will be getting A330 MRTTs and their is a huge Airbus presence in the Indian civil aviation market with India being a MRO base for Airbus in the region as is.
Which needs to be seen, because it's a very large option (around 10m longer, and wider than a A50, it requires longer take off and landing strips and is IFR available?) and very costly per unit either.
Most Germans I talked to, would suggest the A320 as a platform instead, comparable ot the Boeing 737 AWACS. But then again, the MTA is roughly the same size, which would speak for the indigenous choice!
Also keep in mind that by the time DRDO will develop the new radar system, the A350 will be in full production too. It has performance advantages and should be more cost-effective to operate than the A330. All this shows that using A330s as AWACS platforms „only“ because IAF ordered the A330 MRTTs isn't the right way to evaluate the options.