BANGALORE: The Indian Air Force is expected to receive the first Airborne Early Warning&Control (AEW&C) system by this year-end. Two AEW&C systems, built on modified Embraer EMB-145I aircraft, are undergoing flight trials with one more expected to arrive from Brazil later this year.
A senior scientist at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) told Express that after han ding over the first aircraft, parallel flight tests and fine-tuning of the mission systems on the second aircraft would continue, based on the IAF feedback.
The official confirmed that in addition to the airbases in and around Bangalore, the prying plane has already had flight test campaigns in Jamnagar and Agra.
“Being a complex system, we need to approach the integration in a systematic manner. Safety is our top priority and we are proceeding cautiously at every step. During the integration process, the performance of all mission systems matched our expectations. We are now testing each of these mission systems in an independent mode, followed by operating them together in an integrated manner,” the official said.
So far, both aircraft have clocked more than 200 sorties, logging over 350 flying hours.
The first public display of the AEW&C system, widely known as the prying plane, was during the IAF Day celebrations in 2012. Early this year, it was taken to Bahrain for an air show.
As reported by Express earlier, the Defence Research and Development Organisation is exploring the potential of exporting the system to South American countries.
The official said that Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has been selected as the Engineering and Life Support Agency (ELSA) for the project.
“Since the AEW&C is a highly complex system, its requirement too is in limited numbers. Hence establishing of a dedicated production facility is not viable. The support requirement for the aircraft will be provided by Embraer, while the BEL will take care of the mission systems,” the official said.
He said the BEL was selected as the ELSA after undergoing an elaborate process mandated for technology absorption.
With the prying plane programme, India has emerged as one of the few nations after the US, Israel and Sweden to have developed such complex systems.