IAF to Induct First DRDO EMB-145I AEW&CS by June

[sancho]

I think from program start, this was the smoothest managed project in DRDO. Every milestone completed largely on time (maybe a bit here and there), IAF extremely happy with the results, provides great cost advantage as well as good industrial base. Excellent work DRDO!

Are you talking about another AWACS development?

Nov 8, 2011 - ...Indigenous efforts to develop mini-AWACS in a Rs 1,800-crore project approved in 2004, under which AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) systems developed by DRDO are being mounted on three Embraer-145 jets obtained from Brazil for $210 million, have, however, been hit by several delays. As earlier reported by TOI, their project completion date has been pushed back to April, 2014.


January 2013 - ..."Both have a role. All over the world, people have AEW&C and AWACS in a tandem mode because each one does its role and that's what our country is also doing", Saraswat said.

He said two AEW&C aircraft would be ready this year, adding, "By 2014, we will complete delivery of all the three aircraft (AEW&C) to Indian Air Force".


January 2014 - India Strategic offers program updates from an interview with DRDO chief Dr. Avinash Chander. On the mid-tier front, delivery will take place around mid-2014, with 2 aircraft for the IAF, and a 3rd to remain with DRDO as a test and development platform. They’ve completed some flight evaluation trials, and the communication relays are operational.

April 2014 - ...I’m confident that the private firms will be playing a lead role in some of the DRDO’s futuristic projects,” Tamilmani, a senior defence official, said. He said the DRDO has been following the flight path of a compressed development time frame synergising the competences in the private industry...

... Similarly, the Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (EMB-145) is undergoing test flights and by the end of the year, we hope to have the first one inducted into the IAF,” he said.


Btw, the third aircraft was expected to arrive in India by the end of last year and i'f I'm not wrong that didn't happend either. Not to mention the earlier development problems of the initial AWACS program.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

Are you talking about another AWACS development?

Nov 8, 2011 - ...Indigenous efforts to develop mini-AWACS in a Rs 1,800-crore project approved in 2004, under which AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) systems developed by DRDO are being mounted on three Embraer-145 jets obtained from Brazil for $210 million, have, however, been hit by several delays. As earlier reported by TOI, their project completion date has been pushed back to April, 2014.


January 2013 - ..."Both have a role. All over the world, people have AEW&C and AWACS in a tandem mode because each one does its role and that's what our country is also doing", Saraswat said.

He said two AEW&C aircraft would be ready this year, adding, "By 2014, we will complete delivery of all the three aircraft (AEW&C) to Indian Air Force".


January 2014 - India Strategic offers program updates from an interview with DRDO chief Dr. Avinash Chander. On the mid-tier front, delivery will take place around mid-2014, with 2 aircraft for the IAF, and a 3rd to remain with DRDO as a test and development platform. They’ve completed some flight evaluation trials, and the communication relays are operational.

April 2014 - ...I’m confident that the private firms will be playing a lead role in some of the DRDO’s futuristic projects,” Tamilmani, a senior defence official, said. He said the DRDO has been following the flight path of a compressed development time frame synergising the competences in the private industry...

... Similarly, the Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (EMB-145) is undergoing test flights and by the end of the year, we hope to have the first one inducted into the IAF,” he said.


Btw, the third aircraft was expected to arrive in India by the end of last year and i'f I'm not wrong that didn't happend either. Not to mention the earlier development problems of the initial AWACS program.

I know but Ajay Shukla has been putting up reports over the years that the IAF has been visiting the facilities and giving feedback and they're extremely happy.

 

[sancho]

I know but Ajay Shukla has been putting up reports over the years that the IAF has been visiting the facilities and giving feedback and they're extremely happy.

Well Ajay Shukla..., or DRDO officials, doesn't make much difference in terms of claims that are not really true right?
As shown, according to the plans IAF should have at least 2 AWACS aircrafts inducted by last year and now we hope that DRDO gets it done with the first one till summer. Lets see how that works out, when the second can be available and most of all, how good the performance of the radar system is.
It's just one more example that shows how silly DRDO works, promissing stuff but not delivering it, while advertising them for export and boasting that they now belong to an elite club. It's always the same pattern!

P.S. How happy IAF is, was visble when they rejected DRDO's idea of AWACS India and said that they don't want to wait for another project and want to induct more AWACS ASAP!

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

@sancho According to your assessment how does DRDO EMB-145I AEW&CS compare to others in the class especially Saab Erieye?

 

[sancho]

@sancho According to your assessment how does DRDO EMB-145I AEW&CS compare to others in the class especially Saab Erieye?

There are too little reliable specs out of the DRDO system, that's infact what we are waiting for and what the current test stage should show. All we know so far is, that the radar array might be comparable to Saab's earlier gen Erieye radar system, that the Thai Air Force for example use, with a similar FoV of 240°. The Embraer platform however, combined with the additional sensors offers a pretty good base and we definitely need more of them with the DRDO system as soon as possible, to provide proper AWACS coverage around Indian borders.

 

[Judge]

This is fantastic news!

 

[axisofevil]

My question is the order for thi aircraft is only for 3! Why didn't is the order for a larger number?

 

[sancho]

My question is the order for thi aircraft is only for 3! Why didn't is the order for a larger number?

There were reports about an option of 3 more, but since the development takes time, IAF might want to evaluate the final product first, before going for more. Another problem is DRDO, which already wants to divert to AWACS India, based on a larger platform with a different radar, but that obviously takes even more time. If the EMB / DRDO AWACS offers good performance, a follow contract of IAF should be likely, since they have a requirement for another 7 x AWACS.

 

[Ind4Ever]

The 2nd DRDO-Embraer AEW&C Jet was at Bahrain Air Show >>

o man o man . Excellent work by DRDO .

Any news on export orders ? Any one showed interest on them ? How much are we getting.

 

[browser]

o man o man . Excellent work by DRDO .

Any news on export orders ? Any one showed interest on them ? How much are we getting.

How do we export something that is not ours.

First we need permission from Brazil and then US as a number of parts are US made.

 

[Ind4Ever]

How do we export something that is not ours.

First we need permission from Brazil and then US as a number of parts are US made.

Yes of course make a pact. Why do they tell no for extra money ? . It's called collaboration . I don't think we need ask permission to sell every nuts and bolts suppliers . But the main parts suppliers.

 

[sancho]

Yes of course make a pact. Why do they tell no for extra money ? . It's called collaboration . I don't think we need ask permission to sell every nuts and bolts suppliers . But the main parts suppliers.

Only the sensors and the radar system itself are ours, the platform is Brazilian and any (theoretical) export, would require Brazilian approval and production for the platform of course.

 

[Omega007]

Only the sensors and the radar system itself are ours, the platform is Brazilian and any (theoretical) export, would require Brazilian approval and production for the platform of course.

Yeah,until at least the Ilyushin 238s are made available.But that project itself is in limbo.

 

[AMCA]

Only the sensors and the radar system itself are ours, the platform is Brazilian and any (theoretical) export, would require Brazilian approval and production for the platform of course.

Not Necessarily. We can configure this on any Platform the Buyer would want it to be in, of course if the manufacturer agrees to modify designs according it its requirements.

 

[sancho]

Not Necessarily. We can configure this on any Platform the Buyer would want it to be in, of course if the manufacturer agrees to modify designs according it its requirements.

Which again makes us dependent on a manufacturer of a platform, just as we are dependent on Embraer. But since we have integrated and tested the sensors and systems on this platform it's logical that we offer it for (theoretical) exports on the EMB 145. The funny thing then is, that any interested customer, could choose the same platform, but the Swedish Erieye radar system as well, since that is integrated and available too, not to mention that the system is most likely more capable.