AWACS will change Asia's military dynamics

[nitesh]

from: LiveFist: First Photos: 50 Sqn's first Phalcon arrives in India!

 

[Pintu]

This is simply great , news of the arrival of Falcon AWACS is fascinating.

Kudos Nitesh for Posting the Picture.

Regards

 

[geoatpenn]

the escorts dont seem to be carrying any missiles??

 

[K Factor]

Does the IAF have experience in HVACAP missions/tactics?

 

[SATISH]

That why we went for training in Israel mate.

 

[K Factor]

That why we went for training in Israel mate.

But only the AWACS operators went to Israel not the guys who will be providing HVACAP, AFAIK. Does anybody have information whether InAF combat pilots also went to Israel for training?

 

[LETHALFORCE]

DNA: India: The world's best snooping system has landed in India


The world's best snooping system has landed in India

Josy JosephTuesday, May 26, 2009 0:32 IST

New Delhi: The country's first Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) arrived from Israel on Monday, significantly boosting India's capability to detect missiles and fighters deep inside enemy territory.


The AWACS, an IL-76 transport aircraft with unusually powerful engines and fitted with an array of Israeli radar and surveillance systems, skirted countries such as Iran and Pakistan, and flew over the seas for over eight-and-half hours to reach India from Ovda International airport in southern Israel.

Israel had to cancel a Chinese order for the same Phalcon AWACS systems, one of the most powerful snooping systems in the world, under US pressure a few years ago.
The IAF says the AWACS will altogether "alter the dimension of the see-through capability of the IAF beyond conventional visions of ground-based and tethered electromagnetic sensors."

IAF would have a total of three AWACS, and all of them to be based in Agra.The AWACS is mounted with radar that can detect missiles and aircraft in a few hundred kilometers radius. Simultaneously it can also collate surface information about troop movements and missile launches, while listening to communications between enemy frontline units.

As the AWACS entered the Indian airspace, a formation of three Mig-29 and three Jaguar aircraft received the aircraft mid-air and escorted it to the Jamnagar airbase around noon on Monday. The commanding officer of the first AWACS squadron, group captain B Saju, was quoted as saying, "It was a great feeling to be escorted by our fighters and it feels really good to be back." The AWACS would be formally inducted into IAF later this week.

 

[SATISH]

But only the AWACS operators went to Israel not the guys who will be providing HVACAP, AFAIK. Does anybody have information whether InAF combat pilots also went to Israel for training?

I think you have heard reports of IsAF training with MiG 29s and the AWACS were escorted from Israel by three mig 29s and a Jaguar. Does it ring any bells for you Kommie?

 

[Don]

Almost a year behind schedule but atleast it's not the babus' fault this time. This delay in acquisition and selection of our weapons that has plagued the MoD for decades needs to be given priority attention. How difficult is it to form a fast track acquisition committee comprising each of the 3 services? Why don't they bloody think of something like that?

How many squadrons do we have that have witnessed and experienced an AWACS simulated war scenario in the likes of Red Flag and Indradanush? It's going to take us a year to get our entire air force up to speed with AWACS centric warfare by which time those despicable neighbours to our west could well be catching up with their ERIEYES. But imagine how the tables could have been changed had these beauties arrived last year. What a game changer that could have been! Hope Mr. A.K. is taking note.

 

[ZOOM]

I think you have heard reports of IsAF training with MiG 29s and the AWACS were escorted from Israel by three mig 29s and a Jaguar. Does it ring any bells for you Kommie?

Satish read above article carefully, Mig-29 and Jaguar escorted Phalcon only when it entered Indian airspace and not through the Isreal.

 

[ZOOM]

So at last, India join select club of nations having a capability of snooping well inside enemy territory. It is a big plus for our entire armed forces, since atleast now we can see movement of Bandits on forward airbases of Pakistan.

 

[p2prada]

Almost a year behind schedule but atleast it's not the babus' fault this time. This delay in acquisition and selection of our weapons that has plagued the MoD for decades needs to be given priority attention. How difficult is it to form a fast track acquisition committee comprising each of the 3 services? Why don't they bloody think of something like that?

How many squadrons do we have that have witnessed and experienced an AWACS simulated war scenario in the likes of Red Flag and Indradanush? It's going to take us a year to get our entire air force up to speed with AWACS centric warfare by which time those despicable neighbours to our west could well be catching up with their ERIEYES. But imagine how the tables could have been changed had these beauties arrived last year. What a game changer that could have been! Hope Mr. A.K. is taking note.

Not many people know this, But IAF fielded a Soviet AEW platform called the Tu-126 Moss in 1971 against East Pakistan's 14th Squadron. The plane flew for the duration of the war and was sent back to USSR after.

The AEW crew gave a lot of information regarding the position of the enemy during the war. The AEW also carried the most powerful ECM suite of that time.

We have a decent experience using AWACS. We also have a PHALCON Simulator in India which has been put into use.The Phalcon is a big boost to our surveillance capabilities.


Also the Erieye is nowhere as capable. Whatever the PAF can learn from the Erieye is very limited if you compare it to the capabilities of the Phalcon.

 

[Don]

Not many people know this, But IAF fielded a Soviet AEW platform called the Tu-126 Moss in 1971 against East Pakistan's 14th Squadron. The plane flew for the duration of the war and was sent back to USSR after.

The AEW crew gave a lot of information regarding the position of the enemy during the war. The AEW also carried the most powerful ECM suite of that time.

We have a decent experience using AWACS. We also have a PHALCON Simulator in India which has been put into use.The Phalcon is a big boost to our surveillance capabilities.


Also the Erieye is nowhere as capable. Whatever the PAF can learn from the Erieye is very limited if you compare it to the capabilities of the Phalcon.

I am aware of the MOSS . With respect, if you dig a little further, you might come across this fact/speculation that we hired the MOSS because we didn't have a decent surveillance radar at that time to protect our airfields. This was the reason we lost so many aircraft on the ground during the '65 war and we were cautious not to let that happen again. Doesn't help much does it? We had air force personnel on top of shanty bamboo watch towers looking out for enemy aircraft at some places. If we get into the AWACS groove sooner, I'm as happy as anyone on this forum

 

[p2prada]

I am aware of the MOSS . With respect, if you dig a little further, you might come across this fact/speculation that we hired the MOSS because we didn't have a decent surveillance radar at that time to protect our airfields. This was the reason we lost so many aircraft on the ground during the '65 war and we were cautious not to let that happen again. Doesn't help much does it? We had air force personnel on top of shanty bamboo watch towers looking out for enemy aircraft at some places. If we get into the AWACS groove sooner, I'm as happy as anyone on this forum

I am not surprised by this. The military infrastructure on the borders of East Pakistan was limited.
Even today, we may have radars for the North and West India, but nothing for South India. Gaping holes even today.

 

[nitesh]

Indian AWACS Moving Forward on 2 Fronts

India’s AWACS: Platforms & Programs

Israel Aerospace Industries’ Phalcon system is built around an ELTA EL/M-2075 AESA L-band radar, then adds electronic and communications intelligence gathering (ELINT and COMINT) capabilities. The system can also receive transmissions from other air and ground stations, and uses sensor fusion to provide a complete picture of the battlespace out to several hundred kilometers.

India was supposed to receive the first A-50I/IL-76TD Phalcon in December 2007, but Uzbekistan’s Tashkent Aircraft Production Organization (TAPO) was late customizing the airframes. India’s first A-50I Phalcon underwent maiden flight tests in November 2007, and again in January and February 2008. Flight certification was to begin in May 2008, with first delivery set for September 2008; but first delivery ended up taking place in Q2 2009. All 3 aircraft have been promised by the end 2010, but it’s possible that final delivery might not occur until 2011.

The IL-76 Phalcons are part of an emerging architecture for India’s air force, which include the Operational Data Link (ODL), the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), and Air Force Net (AFNET).

While a G550 Phalcon would provide systems commonality, India’s platform of choice for this project is Embraer’s ERJ 145 business/ regional jet. The Hindu reported a timeline that had aircraft delivery beginning in 2011, with full operational capability by 2013. The 3 aircraft together are expected to cost around R 1,800 crore (about $385 million) total when fully equipped.

Subsequent reports indicate a July 2008 contract with Embraer for the aircraft. Under the agreement, Brazil’s Embraer will act as the overall system integrator, supplying the jets, mounting the radar and electronics on or into the EMB-145 fuselage, and ensuring that the altered jets retain acceptable flight performance, and handling flight recertification.

The militarized ERJ 145 comes in several versions, including maritime surveillance and electronic intelligence versions. The most common variant, currently operated by Brazil and Greece, is the EMB 145 Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft1. It uses the same Saab Erieye AESA radar that will be mounted on Pakistan’s new Saab 2000 turboprop AEW&C fleet. There are some blind spots with its “dorsal blade” configuration, most notably to the front, but flight patterns can be planned around those gaps to ensure good coverage of the area in question.

The Hindu report did not specify the radar involved, except to say that it is “from the [Indian] Electronics and Radar Development Establishment”. A September 2005 ACIG report claimed that the radar would be similar to Saab’s Erieye, and the accompanying illustration from India’s DRDO Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) certainly looks very similar.

This systems work with DRDO will be the real key to the Embraer AEW&C project’s success or failure.

India’s state-owned DRDO research and development agency will be heavily involved in a number of areas. According to The Hindu, the Bangalore-based Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) is responsible for overall integration of the electronic systems, mission computer, display and data handling. CABS is reportedly working with the private sector firm Astra Microwave Products of Hyderabad to develop transmit-receive multimodules [JPG format] for the radar; doing so at a reasonable cost is always a challenge for AESA radars, however, and India’s experience with the type is limited. DRDO’s Defence Avionics Research Establishment will be involved with the jet’s self-protection systems, electronic warfare suites and communication support systems; their Defence Electronics Application Laboratory will be involved with the primary sensors, communication systems and data link; and DRDO’s Defence Electronics Research Laboratory will be involved with “counter-support measures.”

DRDO’s radar record is cause for some concern – the multimode radar being developed for the Tejas lightweight fighter isn’t performing properly yet, for instance, and foreign radars like the Elta M-2032 in India’s Sea Harriers are now being used as substitutes in order to keep the already-late program on track. DRDO was also responsible for “Project Guardian/Airawat,” which suffered a disastrous project failure in 1999 when the HS-748 turboprop AWACS testbed aircraft crashed, killing several engineers and scientists who were critical to the project. The ERJ aircraft are the proposed successors to that effort.

 

[nitesh]

What is this now? Isn't DRDO AWACS is using EMB 145 some major error in reporting it seems:

IAF may replace AWACS with 'modern aircraft' in future

 

[p2prada]

Guiding Pilots for the kill – IAF’s Fighter Controllers

Never has the cliché - man behind the machine, in aviation banter, been as significant and diverse as it is today. With the advent of the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) in aerial-battle management scenarios, this aspect has undergone a paradigm shift with the incorporation of the hitherto unseen catalyst – Fighter Controllers (FC), manning work stations on board the AWACS.

The fighter pilots of the yore were often deemed ‘flying aces’ depending upon the number of enemy aircraft that they downed single-handedly or at best, in pairs in the ‘dog-fights’ that ensued. The manifestation of modern day air combats with multitudes of fighter aircraft in an era of ‘beyond-visual range’ (BVR) missiles today are a scenario, far removed from that.

Comprehensive situational awareness is the buzzword for survivability for any modern-day fighter pilot. To achieve that it is mandatory to match the inputs from the AWACS and ground radars to help make the entire airspace transparent. It is here that the fighter controller’s role assumes significance as they play a decisive role in the outcome of aerial battles.

Integration of fighter controllers actively into IAF operations goes back in history where they played a significant role in all our wars. With the advent of all-aspect IR missiles and BVRs in the mid-80s, the pilot-controller synergy reached a new level. Together they became a lethal team and the IAF began conducting joint courses for them since 1989 at TACDE (Tactics and Combat Development Establishment) where Fighter Combat Leaders (FCL), Fighter Strike Leaders (FSL) and Master Fighter Controllers (MFC) are trained alongside. This lethal team has now got a lot meaner with the FC now being available inside the airborne platform.

The IAF started training its FCs for AWACS operations as early as August 2005 during ‘Cope India’ exercise with US Air Force. In other bilateral international exercises of ‘Indradhanush’ and ‘Garuda’, with Royal Air Force and French Air Force in succeeding years, IAF fighter controllers matched skills with their more experienced counterparts adapting to the new environment with panache. At the multilateral international air exercise of Red Flag at Nellis USAF base in 2003 and 2008, IAF pilots and FCs made their presence count in every encounter.

A batch of IAF FCs underwent training in Israel to operate the latest AWACS that is being inducted today. Other controllers to follow will be trained at the Air Defence College, Lucknow - the country’s only centre imparting advance training to fighter controllers of the Air Force. With a preeminent role to guide the fighter pilots for a kill, the job of IAF’s fighter controller now is set to transcend from the realm of ‘control of interceptors and air surveillance’ to that of management of the entire ‘Air Battle’ as a whole.

 

[nitesh]

First Russian AWACS plane put in service with Indian air force

For instance, India dropped Russia from a $1-bln tender to supply six aerial tankers for the Indian Air Force due to poor after-sales maintenance services and is most likely to look for another manufacturer for future AWACS orders to satisfy its needs for early warning aircraft.

India has recently purchased eight Boeing P-81 long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft from the United States, and signed a deal with Brazil to jointly integrate domestically developed AWACS systems into three Brazilian-made Embraer-145 aircraft to be later commissioned with the Indian Air Force.

Which one IAF is going to chose?

 

[F-14]

i put my money of the Gulf stream

 

[p2prada]

It could even be A330...