The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s newest force-multiplier, the first of three 'Phalcon' Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (Airborne Warning And Control System and Airborne Early Warning & Control are interchangeable terms), landed quietly in New Delhi on January 11, 2009. Confirming this, Indian media said that the aircraft made a brief stop at Delhi's Palam Airport from Israel, where it was inspected by Indian Air Chief, ACM Fali Major before heading out to Agra.
The induction of the Phalcon comes as a tremendous boost in the present standoff between Pakistan and India. "
It can help monitor the military build-up, troop and aircraft movements nearly 200 km inside Pakistan while flying nearly 100 km inside your own territory," says Air Marshal A K Göel (retired). The only platforms offering such a capability, albeit a limited one, are the spy planes of the RAW's Aviation Research Centre and the IAF's fleet of Israeli-built Heron and Searcher-II drones.
IAF AEW&C System can achieve this using its Israeli-built AEW mission suite called the Phalcon, mounted on a Russian-built IL-76 transport aircraft. The system is used for tactical surveillance of airborne and surface targets and intelligence gathering to a radius of over
400 km. The solid-state phased array Elta EL/M-2075 radar is mounted on a radome above the fuselage. The electronically steered beam provides 360 degree coverage around the aircraft and it carries air force personnel on board to analyse the data and steer fighter aircraft.
The aircraft are to form part of a new AEW squadron # 50 based in the 2,700-acre Agra air base, which already houses an IL-76 transport squadron and a squadron of IL-78 MKI air-to-air refueler aircraft will also be home to the AWACS that will enhance the air defence and assault tactics of IAF. Agra's existing runway length of 9,000 feet at the base has been extended to 10,500 feet and work is on for setting up three new hangars.
The avionics laboratory at the station, which already handles avionics systems of the existing IL-76 and IL-78 MKI aircraft, is also readying to accommodate the calibration and the integration processes of the new radar system. A Transport Aircraft Operations Tactics Development Cell (TAOTDC), the top gun school of transport aircraft in India, is also getting ready for future courses considering the induction of the AWACS, according to Indian media.
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