Friday, May 23, 2003
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By Atul Aneja
Essentially surveillance planes, AWACS can carry out airborne searches behind enemy lines for hundreds of kilometers. Fighter jets can be quickly positioned to an advantageous position in the sky to tackle a hostile air strike on account of the early warning that AWACS provide. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the U.S. has given an unconditional clearance for the transfer of the Israeli Phalcon systems to India after keeping the decision on hold for about a year and a half on account of the existence of tensions between India and Pakistan. Inquires by The Hindu show that the U.S. decision to clear the Phalcon sales has not come as a surprise. In fact, this subject was raised during the recent visit to India by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage. The Phalcon system that integrates four sensors, including a highly-advanced phased array radar, will be mounted on a special Russian IL-76 platform, defence sources said. Once integrated, India will acquire a state-of-the-art AWACS, which will be capable of carrying out surveillance sweeps for hundreds of kilometers by day or night and in any weather conditions. The combination of Israeli and Russian early warning technology is expected to encourage the fuller exploitation of some of the high performance planes with the Air Force such as the long range SU-30MKI and the French Mirage 2000 planes. Sources said the U.S., in the past, had objected to the transfer of the phased array Greenpine radar, which is part of the Phalcon sensor package. While Israel developed this radar, the U.S. objected to its sales by pointing out that this sensor was the result of a joint venture, which Washington had funded. The clearance for the estimated $ 1 billion phalcon deal is likely to become a cause for concern for both Pakistan and China. In fact, China, before India had come into the fray, had been negotiating the purchase of the Phalcon system with Israel. This deal, which had nearly closed, however fell through at the last moment on account of the U.S. opposition to the transfer of an AWACS package to Beijing.
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