AWACS: India, Pakistan and China
AWACS: India, Pakistan and China
An Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar system designed for intelligenceand detection of aircraft. Used at a high altitude, the radars allow the operators to distinguish between friendly and hostile aircraft hundreds of miles away. AEW&C aircraft are used for defensive and offensive air operations. The system is used offensively to direct fighters to their target locations, and defensively to counter attacks. It can also be used to carry out surveillance, and C2BM (command and control, Battle Management) functions.Modern AEW&C systems can detect aircraft from up to 400 km away. One AWACS plane flying at 30,000 feet can cover an area of 311,990 km². Three such aircraft in overlapping orbits can cover the whole of Central Europe.
Over the last 30 years, many countries have attempted to develop indigenous AEW radar and their associated systems – until the arrival of the Erieye (Swiden) and Phalcon(Israel) systems, only the USA and USSR really succeeded.
India
In March 2004, Israel and India signed a US$1.1 billion deal according to which IAI would deliver the Indian Air Force three Phalcon AEW&C radar systems. India signed a separate deal with the Ilyushin Corporation of Russia for the of supply three Il-76 A-50 heavy air-lifters, which were to be used as platforms for these radar systems, for an additional US $500 million. India received its first AWACS on 25th May 2009. In June 2008, media reports suggested that India and Israel were about to sign a deal for three additional Phalcon radars.
The IAI EL/M-2075 Phalcon is an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) radar system developed by Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Elta Electronics Industries of Israel. Its primary objective is to provide intelligence to maintain air superiority and conduct surveillance. According to the Federation of American Scientists in a 1999 article, the Phalcon was among the most advanced AEW&C systems in the world. A Phalcon AWACS flying over Amritsar, for instance, will be able to detect a Pakistani F-16 as soon as it takes off from Sargodha.
The Phalcon system uses Active Phased Array Electronic Scanning Technology rather than a mechanically rotating antenna (rotodome) used by current AWACS systems, which gives Phalcon greater operational flexibility and performance by several orders of magnitude. The radar can be mounted on an aircraft's fuselage or on the top inside a small dome. Either position gives the radar 360 degree coverage. The phased array radar allows positions of aircraft on operator screens to be updated every 2-4 seconds, rather than every 20-40 seconds as is the case on the rotodome AWACS.
The Phalcon system is believed to be capable of tracking up to 60 targets at ranges between 435-500 miles, giving the Indian Air Force the ability to survey large areas of Pakistan from within Indian airspace. Moreover, when Indian fighters are launched, AWACS can guide them, which means the fighters need not 'illuminate' their onboard radars until the terminal phase of their mission, thus minimising the chance of their detection.
Israel has also agreed to supply India with high-resolution pictures from its Ofeq-5 photo-reconnaissance satellite of the Kashmir region and the line of control area between India and Pakistan. In 2003, Israel sold India a number of Aerostat balloons, equipped with phased array radars that are permanently deployed along the border with Pakistan.
India also has thirteen Kamov K-31 AWACS helicopters . With their "Oko" radar, K-31 helicopters are capable of detecting upto 200 aerial targets at a time with simultaneous tracking of 20 of them at the range of 110-115 kilometres and surface ships at the range of 200 kilometres.
Indian Indigenous effort
In early September 2004, the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Chairman, approved the development of an indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS). The development programme shall be completed within five years, and shall not exceed a cost ceiling of Rs 1800 crore (some $450 million). India has signed a $210-million deal with Brazilian firm Embraer for three aircraft for its own indigenous AWACS project. "Though not as advanced as the Phalcons, the indigenous AWACS will nevertheless be potent force-multipliers. The full-fledged Embraer-145 based AEW&C will be flight-tested for mission systems in India by DRDO and IAF in 2012," said an Indian official.
This new effort is actually a revival of the old Airborne Surveillance Platform (ASP) project, launched in the early 1980s and cancelled in 1999 when the sole Avro 748 prototype aircraft crashed in Arakkonam in South India (the rotodome separated and hit the tail) while carrying not only close to a billion dollar worth of technology and systems but also some top scientists associated with the project.
Pakistan
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has ordered five Saab 2000 aircraft, four of which will be fitted with the Erieye radar and associated systems. The first is expected to be received by the PAF in October 2009.
The Erieye AEW&C mission system radar is an active, phased-array, pulse-Doppler sensor that can feed an onboard operator architecture or downlink data (via an associated datalink subsystem) to a ground-based air defence network. The system employs a large aperture, dual-sided antenna array housed in a dorsal 'plank' fairing. The antenna is fixed, and the beam is electronically scanned, which provides for improved detection and significantly enhanced tracking performance compared with radar-dome antenna systems. Typical detection range against fighter-sized targets is approximately 350 km, in a 150° broadside sector, both sides of the aircraft. Outside these sectors, performance is reduced in forward and aft directions.
Pakistan has turned to its all-weather friend China to acquire an undisclosed number of KJ-2000s According to details provided to Pakistani legislators China will provide the system to Pakistan over the next four years. The PRC has also made a critical concession to cash-strapped Pakistan agreeing to make deliveries on a deferred payment basis.
The limitation of the two sided array is that it can only cover two 120 degree sectors abeam of the aircraft, leaving 60 degree blind sectors over the nose and tail of the aircraft, and reduced antenna performance from 45 degrees off the beam aspect. Another limitation stems from the use of an airframe too small to accommodate a comprehensive self contained command, control and communications system, and other sensors such as a capable ESM and track association system (Phalcon AWACS carries controllers on board).
It has been reported that the systems being delivered to Pakistan will house a limited number of controllers. Even if they do, they will probably continue to use data links to a ground control system for more comprehensive control in view of the gaps in its coverage.
China
At least one Chinese indigenous airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft (KJ-2000?) was spotted undergoing tests in Nanjing in 2003. The aircraft, which is based on a Russian-made A-50 airframe, carries a phased array radar (PAR) system designed and developed by Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology. The existence of such a project represents China’s latest effort to acquire airborne early earning capability, which it has been actively seeking for over a decade.
PROGRAMME
By 1992, China had begun talks with Russia about purchasing the Beriev A-50 (NATO codename: Mainstay) plane, the AWACS variant of the Ilyushin IL-76 military transport aircraft. Later, talks involved acquisition of an Israeli radar system. Three-way negotiations that began in 1994 considered four AEW aircraft for $1 billion. In 1996 China, Russia, and Israel reached initial agreement on a $250 million deal to supply one AEW aircraft to the PLAAF by installing an Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) Phalcon phased-array radar with 360 degree coverage on a A-50 plane.
In May 1997, Israel and Russia reached agreement on modifying one IL-76, as a Beriev A-50I, for $250 million, with the option of three more AWACS for a total cost of $1 billion. Russia secured about 20 percent of the deal. After some delay, in October 1999, Russia transferred an A-50 airframe to Israel for the installation of the Phalcon AEW radar system by IAI. By May 2000, Israel had nearly completed work on the aircraft.
The Phalcon deal became an increasingly controversial issue between the United States and Israel. In 2000, the Clinton Administration voiced stronger objections to the sale and urged Israel to cancel the sale of the Phalcon, saying it is a system comparable to the U.S. AWACS and could collect intelligence and guide aircraft from 250 miles away. Finally, in July 2000 the Israeli government cancelled the deal with China.
Following the humiliation of the cancelled A-50I/Phalcon deal, China turned to indigenous solutions. The Phalcon radar and other electronic systems were taken off from the unfinished A-50I, and the airframe was handed to China via Russia in 2002. Modifications on the A-50I airframe began in late 2002 to install the Chinese-made airborne radar system at Xi’an Aircraft Industry Co. (XAC). The aircraft made its first flight in November 2003, and was reportedly rename as Kongjing-2000 (KJ-2000).
A total of four aircraft may eventually be built, either on new A-50s purchased from Russia, or directly converted locally from the existing IL-76s in service with the PLAAF.
The detailed information regarding the new Chinese AWACS is unknown. However, it is estimated that the aircraft is comparable to the Russian A-50 in general flight performance.
The A-50 carries out patrol missions at an altitude of 5,000m to 10,000m. The patrol service ceiling is 10,000m. The maximum flight range of the aircraft is 5,000km and the flight endurance is 7 hours 40 minutes. At a range of 2,000m, the A-50 can remain on patrol for up to 1 hour 25 minutes. The Chinese A-50 airframe also has a fixed in-flight refuelling probe, which could be refuelled by the IL-78 Midas tanker. This will significantly increase the range and flight endurance of the aircraft.
The Chinese AWACS has a unique phased array radar (PAR) carried in a round radome. Unlike the U.S. AWACS aircraft, which rotate their rotodomes to give a 360 degree coverage, the radar antenna of the Chinese AWACS does not rotate. Instead, three PAR antenna modules are placed in a triangular configuration inside the round radome to provide a 360 degree coverage.
The Chinese-made airborne earning warning radar system could be similar in capability to the IAI Phalcon, but may not be as capable as the latter.
An experimental Chinese AWACS reportedly crashed in 2006, killing their best scientists and technician s. China is consequently pursuing the project on Boeing 737-800 airframe.
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