Made in India, Military aerostats with 250 km coverage

[TATA]

Made in India, Military aerostats with 250 km coverage

Indigenous AWACS to be flight-tested by 2011

Y. Mallikarjun

To be used in air defence and surveillance

Five DRDO laboratories working on the project

DRDO has sanction for developing 6 AWACS costing Rs.10,000 crore

HYDERABAD: Even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to acquire the third Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) from Israel by December, India is in the process of developing nine home-grown, state-of-the-art versions and the first of them is expected to be flight-tested by the end of next year.

Five frontline laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are working to develop the system which would be 85 per cent indigenous, Prahlada, Chief Controller, R & D (Aerospace and Services Interaction), DRDO, told The Hindu here. The Centre for Airborne Systems, Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Defence Electronics Research Laboratory, Defence Electronics Application Laboratory and Electronics and Radar Development Establishment are involved in the prestigious project.

While three of the systems would be integrated on board the Brazilian Embraer EMB 145 jet and delivered by 2014, the aircraft on which the remaining six AWACS would be mounted was yet to be decided. The DRDO received the sanction for developing the six AWACS costing Rs.10,000 crore, he added. The delivery of these AWACS to the IAF would begin from 2015. They would be used for air defence, surveillance and network-centric operations.

Military aerostats

With the three services requiring several aerostats, the DRDO would be making two types of military aerostats — the first type to carry military payloads up to an altitude of 1,000 metres and the second up to a height of 5,000 metres.

Already a 1,000-metre aerostat was afloat and its functions were demonstrated to both the Army and Air Force, he added.

Dr. Prahlada said the aerostats would be used for surveillance, jamming of electronic systems, intelligence data gathering and for communication relay.

The radar of the 1,000-metre aerostat would have a coverage of 150 km, while that of the 5,000-metre one would be up to 200 to 250 km.

The Hindu : Front Page : Indigenous AWACS to be flight-tested by 2011

 

[DEXTOR]

Awesome news.......

 

[Rain]

Spec. disappoints me!!

 

[The HBS Guy]

Is an aerostat a good idea? After all it is merely a baloon which can be burst by a single bullet...or is there something I do not know?

 

[pmukherjee]

"The aerostats are large fabric envelopes filled with helium, and can rise up to an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 m) while tethered by a single cable. The largest lifts a 1000 kg payload to an operating altitude providing low-level, downward-looking radar coverage. The aerostat consists of four major parts or assemblies: the hull and fin, windscreen and radar platform, airborne power generator, and rigging and tether.
The hull of the aerostat contains two parts separated by a gas-tight fabric partition. The upper chamber is filled with helium and provides the aerostat's lifting capability. The lower chamber of the hull is a pressurized air compartment. The hull is constructed of a lightweight polyurethane-coated Tedlar fabric. An airborne engine drives the generator, supplied by a 100-gallon diesel fuel tank.
Beginning in the late 1990s, the aerostat sites were equipped with Lockheed Martin 420K aerostats. This blimp carries the Lockheed Martin L-88 as its primary payload, a surveillance radar with a range of 370 km (200 nm)........................"

 

[SQ8]

Aerostats are ok for watching borders in peacetime.. in a war though.. they are balloons waiting to be shot.
An aerostat with a ground surveillance radar can be a vital asset against CoIn operations.. something India is doing all over the place.

 

[kingdurgaking]

Aerostats are ok for watching borders in peacetime.. in a war though.. they are balloons waiting to be shot.
An aerostat with a ground surveillance radar can be a vital asset against CoIn operations.. something India is doing all over the place.

Yeah right but mostly Aerostats will be deployed only after achieving Air superiority.. I mean there is no air threat in its coverage area as you said... Aerostat will be the most cheapest long duration surveillance that is available..

 

[pmukherjee]

Is an aerostat a good idea? After all it is merely a baloon which can be burst by a single bullet...or is there something I do not know?

They are vulnerable alright, but so are AWACS. But they can't be destroyed by a single bullet. Remember the stories of RAF fighters trying to bring down German blimps in WW-1? And they were hydrogen blimps then. The currents blimps are Helium filled and have a considerable amount of survivability.

 

[TATA]

Aerostats are ok for watching borders in peacetime.. in a war though.. they are balloons waiting to be shot.
An aerostat with a ground surveillance radar can be a vital asset against CoIn operations.. something India is doing all over the place.

1.) Nothing in this world is immortal.

2.) IAF chief have said that the procurement plans of the IAF stood on "four pillars of see, reach, hit and protect."


And i think its a step in right direction.

Apart from human Intel, Tech Intel, Spy Satellites............ Military Aerostats is obvious step.

Now, we can't be surprised and attacked.

 

[SpArK]

Is an aerostat a good idea? After all it is merely a baloon which can be burst by a single bullet...or is there something I do not know?

That bullet atleast have to travel 3-4 kms to reach it.

 

[ranveer]

Aerostats are ok for watching borders in peacetime.. in a war though.. they are balloons waiting to be shot.
An aerostat with a ground surveillance radar can be a vital asset against CoIn operations.. something India is doing all over the place.

yaar,, sry but u would have not said the above sentence if your country had the same balloon.!!!

 

[IND151]

India is great!

 

[Last Hope]

Airstats will be used in defence ??!!

Would be expensive!
Even a flying hawk can burst it!

 

[Mrityunjay Rai]

Even a flying hawk can burst it!

Oh....................
ya even you can hit them with by throwing stone

 

[Last Hope]

Oh....................
ya even you can hit them with by throwing stone

Sharp peaked stones with acceleration of more than 100 m/s2 comes to your balloon, no problem!