g SPECIALREPORT
EYE IN THE SKY: IAF has inducted three
PHALCON AWACS that it contracted from Israeli Aerospace Industries and based them at Agra Link-2 as the primary data-link for network-centric operations. In the near future, the PHALCON will be complemented by a smaller but potent indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) solution. The Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), which is DRDO’s spearhead laboratory for aerial ISR technology, is currently looking to proceed with mission systems integration on the first of three Embraer ERJ-145s, which serves as the platform for India’s indigenous AEW&C console. Each modified ERJ-145s will house a primary radar, a secondary surveillance radar (SSR), ESM, CSM, mission communication system (MCS) consisting of SATCOM and datalinks (such as the Link-2) and a comprehensive self-protection suite (SPS). It is noteworthy that the modified ERJ-145 used in this programme is in-flight refueling capable. The lynchpin of the indigenous AEW&C solution is an AESA consisting of two radiating planar arrays assembled back-to-back and mounted on top of the ERJ-145’s fuselage in a box like structure called the Active-Array Antenna Unit (AAAU). This arrangement allows 120 degree coverage on either side of the AAAU and allows the AESA to achieve its www.geopolitics.in
full potential of delivering multiple trackwhile-scan. This indigenously developed AESA is expected to deliver features such as high performance tracking and priority tracking with reference to fighter-sized targets. If things go according to plan, CABS may start flying the first fully integrated ERJ-145 next year. After the initial three-unit order, up to 20 more examples of the type may be acquired by the IAF in the next decade and a half. Cooperation with Israel has also seen the IAF move into the aerostat age. The service currently operates two Israeli-origin aerostats, each carrying Elta’s EL/M2083 radar which is reported to be a derivative of the ‘Green Pine’ missile defence radar, used in the Arrow AntiBallistic Missile (ABM) system. The EL/M-2083 given its reported antecedents is probably an L-band phased-array radar capable of search, acquisition as well as fire-control. It can acquire and track targets at both “high” and “low” altitudes, identify targets such as cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against background clutter. It also performs its scans electronically in both azimuth, and elevation, and does so out to a potential 500 km. In any case, the IAF seems to put a lot of weight
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on its aerostat holdings and is looking to acquire a dozen more aerostats in the short term, with more inductions when indigenous types like the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment’s (ADRDE’s) in-development ‘Nakshatra’ aerostat becomes available. Even as it brings in more high fliers, the IAF is also focusing on new ground-based radars for developing a truly comprehensive Air Situation Picture (ASP). The IAF’s finest new ‘ground level’ acquisition is the Arudhra Medium Power Radar (MPR) developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) with Israeli cooperation. The Arudhra’s induction into Naliya Air Base, Gujarat, in June this year marks the first time a groundbased active array for air surveillance and has been inducted by the IAF. Arudhra boasts of advanced digital processing technologies such as digital beam forming and programmable signal processing to fully exploit the capabilities of its S-band solid state active aperture that can detect and track fighter-sized targets from more than 300 km away. The radar combines a rotating phased-array antenna with electronic steering modes for 360 degree coverage in azimuth and +40 to -40 degree coverage in elevation between November 2011