But IAF is planning to acquire only two early warning & control system aircraft and not three as envisaged earlier

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will have many more eyes in the sky. The recent media revelation that the IAF will go in for two more airborne early warning & control system (AWACS) aircraft after the last of the three Israeli Phalcons already ordered is inducted in December did not come as a surprise at all. What was mystifying, however, was that the IAF is planning to acquire only two and not three more systems, envisaged earlier as an option in its original order.

Pursued diligently for more than a decade and even though dogged by many delays, a long-standing requirement of the IAF was finally fulfilled with the in-service induction of the first of the three AWACS on May 28 last year. This was the culmination of a tripartite deal signed by India, Israel and Russia. According to the deal, Israel was to install its Phalcon AWACS systems worth $1.1 billion (Rs 5,000 crore) on three Russian IL-76 aircraft ($500 million or Rs 2,250 crore) for sale to India. At the time of signing the deal in 2004, an option for three more such systems in future was also inserted as one of the clauses in the deal.

For the uninitiated, AWACS—a great force-multiplier—is an airborne radar system to detect aircraft. Used at high altitudes, the radar not only allows the operators to distinguish friendly and hostile aerial platforms hundreds of miles away, but also to control both defensive and offensive air operations. The system is used offensively to direct own fighters to their target locations and defensively to counter enemy air attacks. Over and above the stated primary tasks, the system can also be used to carry out surveillance, especially in the electronic medium and command and control management functions. The uniqueness of the Israeli IAI/Elta Phalcon system lies in the EL/M-2075 active electronically scanned array (AESA) phased array radar that allows the radar beam to be steered electronically through 360 degree, making a physically rotating rotodome unnecessary. Other than the radar, the Phalcon system’s sensors also include IFF, ESM/ELINT and CSM/COMINT which through a unique fusion technique, continuously cross-correlate all the generated data making into a highly potent and versatile system.

The cavernous inner fuselage of the IL-76 offers voluminous space for the IAF AWACS aircraft to be transformed into a de facto air defence direction centre-cum-command operations centre (ADDC/COC). Therefore, while the aircraft is engaged in the passive tasks of gathering electronic and communication information, it can also be actively engaged in directing air-dominance/superiority fighters to create sanitised corridors by neutralising enemy air opposition and then actively controlling friendly strike packages to proceed to their respective targets through the safe air space so created. Simultaneously, the AWACS can carry out real-time management of the battlefield within its large area of coverage including directing airborne platforms for counter surface force operations (CSFO) i.e. battlefield area strikes/close air support (BAS/CAS).