Synopsis
The idea behind the project is to bring India on par with China and Pakistan in surveillance capability. According to reports, both these neighbouring countries are considerably ahead of India in this regard.
AEW&C aircraft and two Sukhoi Su-30 fly over Rajpath in Netra formation during the 72nd Republic Day Parade.
India's mega eye-in-the-sky plan has got the final nod from the government. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the Rs 10,990-crore last Wednesday.
The project had been given the initial "acceptance of necessity" status by Defence ministry last December.
The indigenous project entails making six airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, which will add to the surveillance capacity of the Indian Air Force along the LoC and the LAC.
Under the DRDO project, indigenous 360-degree coverage active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars will be mounted on six narrow-body Airbus-321 passenger planes. These planes will come from Air India's existing fleet.
According to sources, the planes will be purchased from Air India at much cheaper rates. Airbus will then help modify them by mounting India-made radars and other necessary tools.
The idea behind the project is to bring India on par with China and Pakistan in surveillance capability. According to reports, both these neighbouring countries are considerably ahead of India in this regard.
The final deadline given to the AEW&C projects is seven years from now. The first testing is expected to commence in four years' time.
At present, the IAF's surveillance toolkit is consisted of three Israeli Phalcon AWACS mounted on IL-76 transport planes. They can do 360-degree radar coverage at a 400-km range.
These apart, there also are two indigenous 'Netra' AEW&C aircraft with the IAF. These can do 240-degree coverage in a 250-km range.
No comments:
Post a Comment