National

Foreign partner likely for ‘eye in the sky’ programme

BANGALORE: The Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), which is coordinating the indigenous Rs.1,800-crore airborne early warning and control system (AEW&CS) programme, is looking for a foreign partner.

The partner will help CABS integrate systems such as the Active Array Antenna Unit (AAAU), other antennas, trans receiver modules and various sub systems being developed by Indian defence laboratories onto the three Brazil manufactured Embraer EMB-145 regional jets that India is using as the AEWC&S flying platform.

The CABS has sent a request for proposal for the multi-million dollar contract to six vendors — Israel’s Elta, the European consortium EADS, France’s Thales, Sweden’s SAAB Erikson and the United State’s Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. The vendors have time till the third week of January to submit their proposals.

The ‘Eye in the sky’ AEW&CS and the more elaborate Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) are basically sensors (radars) mounted on a flying platform that look deep and far and provide C2BM (command and control, battle management) functions by data link for both tactical and defence forces.

These sensors disseminate information to a command and control centre for use by the forces.

The indigenous AEW&CS which are for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will supplement the three Phalcon advanced early warning systems that India is acquiring from Israel at a cost of $1.1 billion. But since the six aircraft will be able to effectively cover only an area equivalent to India’s northern borders, the IAF is looking to acquire an additional 20 such systems.

The CABS, which is scheduled to deliver the first AEW&CS by 2011, is hoping to build some of these systems, sell a few to the Navy and even bag export orders.

A senior CABS official said that the IAF had changed the operating requirements in 2005, asking for changes such as extra seats, an executive chair and in-flight refuelling. All this had caused an “increase in weight and a small delay.”

He said the AEWC&S’s trans-receiver modules were being designed by CABS and Astra Microwave of Hyderabad, while the ground exploitation system was being designed and manufactured by Bharat Electronics.

The official said the three specially modified EMB-145s, being acquired at a cost of $210 million from Embraer, will be delivered in 36, 42 and 45 months.

Pilots from the Air Force’s Aircraft and System Testing Establishment would check them out in Brazil before they are accepted. The aircraft’s first flight was expected in 24 months.

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