Pakistan's Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircrafts
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superbikez
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Pakistan is going for KJ2000 ?????
hj786
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No problem. Of course ZDK-03 will not be as capable as KJ-2000, but will be comparable to Erieye. From what I have read, Erieye might have better multi-role capability, i.e. it performs well in ground and sea surveillance, as well as aerial surveillance, but I'm not sure. Anyway, with some software upgrades ZDK can easily be made on par if not better than Erieye (if it is not already).
I personally think the reason Erieye was procured was not only to utilise Swedish experience and training for introduction of AEW&C capability to PAF, but also to datalink with F-16s using Link-16.
I think it might be easier to integrate Erieye with the JF-17 datalink system than integrating F-16's Link-16 datalink with the ZDK-03 system.
If you read the above posts bro, you will find ZDK-03 is the PAF name for KJ-200, like JF-17 is the PAF name for FC-1.
superbikez why don't you do what everybody else does and read the above posts to find the answer to your question?
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fatman17
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AWACS will change Asia's military dynamics
By Hari Sud
February 06, 2009
Toronto, ON, Canada, — Three weeks ago, an Indian AWACS – airborne warning and control system – plane made its debut over New Delhi. Two more are on order and will arrive in a year’s time. Additional purchases of this top-of-the-line plane in the near future will enhance India’s defensive posture against both China and Pakistan.
A deal with Israel in 2004 to supply the Phalcon radar, which uses Active Phased Array Electronic Scanning Technology, cost India US$1.1 billion. Russia supplied India with its highly upgraded IL-76TD workhorse planes, which are fitted with powerful PS-90 engines, via Kazakhstan. This aircraft and its engines have been modified for the hot and humid climate of India.
The above-mentioned acquisition is a force multiplier for the Indian Air Force. AWACS aircraft are able to detect any enemy airborne activity – including when and were enemy planes take off from bases up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away and the direction in which they are heading – while staying 100 kilometers (62 miles) within its own border.
Two of these AWACS aircraft patrolling the western front, well within India’s territory, can cover the sensitive Punjab-Rajasthan border. The Phalcon radar, the most sophisticated to date, can also collect surface information about troop movements and missile launches and can listen into highly confidential communications between Pakistan’s frontline units.
Militarily, surveillance and advance knowledge of enemy activity is ultimately a force multiplier. An earlier version of this plane was used during the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973. Israelis shot down most of the Syrian and Egyptian planes without losing any to the enemy, using the early version. The United States also used it during the Gulf War to take out Iraqi planes. The remaining Iraqi pilots of MiG-23s and MiG-29s fled to Iran to escape the terror in the sky.
Israelis and Americans gave this technology the name AWACS because of its long-range capability. Similar technology mounted on a smaller but very capable plane is called AEW&C, for Airborne Early Warning & Control. Since India has a great deal of territory to cover, acquisition of smaller, more flexible planes with mounted surveillance radars makes sense. In this case, the radar and electronics can be homemade. India’s choice of aircraft for its own AEW&C system is Brazil’s Embraer 145 business/regional jet plane.
The key word here is operational flexibility. Whereas the IL-76 AWACS aircraft requires a lot of area to take off and land, the Embraer can take off and land at smaller airports. This is key to a layered approach to surveillance, including hostile missiles.
What does India’s hostile neighbor have for aerial surveillance?
Pakistan does not want India to have the upper hand. Although it has U.S. money handy to match India’s military spending, nobody is selling them the advanced AWACS. So, they have settled for six Swedish SAAB-2000 turbo prop planes with Ericsson surveillance radars. The deal is worth US$1.5 billion.
They would have preferred U.S. or Israeli phased ray radar but its unavailability changed their choice to SAAB/Ericsson. The latter is equipped with Saab Microwave Systems, Erieye surveillance radar and nine-hour loitering capability. This is as good as what the Swedes can supply, but lacks actual battlefield experience. At best these are comparable to India’s homegrown AEW&C.
China lost to India when they negotiated the same deal with Israel to buy Phalcons in 2000-2001 as U.S. intervention prevented the technology transfer. The hardware, which could have gone to the Chinese, was switched to India.
Like India in the late nineties, China began experimenting with home built AWACS. Initially they turned to Russia and purchased Beriev A-50 radar planes. These are exact copies of the U.S. E-3 Sentry radar planes except that they were mounted on Russian Il-76 aircrafts. Totally dissatisfied, they began experimenting with their own phased ray radar. Their experimental AWACS crashed in 2006, killing forty of their best scientists and technicians. China wants to dump it in favor of Boeing 737-800 planes.
The Boeing plane with homemade Chinese radars is dubbed as KJ-2000. Equipped by the most modern technology, which China can lay its hands on, three such planes are being built. The KJ-2000’s radar has a range of about 300 kilometers. It is the nearest match to what the U.S. flies in and around Taiwan. Although the Chinese are happy with their decision, improvements are a long way off in the absence of relevant technology, which it has not yet received.
Realizing that India is ahead in this force multiplier acquisition and nobody else is able to supply them, Pakistan has been making attempts to convince the Chinese to acquire similar planes on their behalf for an undisclosed sum.
Last year the Chinese KJ-2000 was seen at Pakistan’s Chakalala airport giving an operational demonstration. China is very keen to secure a deal with Pakistan on these aircrafts, as it will help them defray their huge developmental costs.
The intimidation factor of AWACS is immense. Imagine Pakistan planning a major air raid in India over Srinagar, Kashmir and poised to fly super secret missions from its airports in Rawalpindi, Sialkote, and Sargodha, which are about 200 kilometers from the Indian border. The success of such missions depend on the element of surprise they achieve and an Indian AWACS flying a surveillance mission in a wide arc over Kashmir, Punjab and the Ladakh region can detect Pakistan’s aerial movements and ambush it.
Concurrently, the Swedish made Pakistani AEW&C and possibly Chinese AWACS can also detect India’s movements. Realizing that the mission is doomed Pakistan’s high command could call off the raids. So, AWACS can avoid an ugly aerial fight.
AWACS and AEW&C planes are not invulnerable. They fly 200-300 kilometers away from the hostile war zones. A concerted effort from enemy fighters could force it to retreat far beyond its 300-kilometer safe distance. As a turbo-prop heavy lift plane is very vulnerable to Beyond-Visual-Range attacks, it needs an escort of fighters to ward off such threats.
Imagine a Chinese air attack on central Indian air bases in the wake of their ground losses in India’s Ladakh region or their inability to capture Twang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They could send their SU-27’s over the Himalayas from bases far away or send cruise missiles from bases closer to the Tibet-India border. The early knowledge of incoming planes or missiles will help India in beating back the air attack and saving its air assets. Without the early warnings from AWACS, Indian airbases are very vulnerable to enemy attacks. So, AWACS is a big asset.
At sea, India’s recent contract with Boeing for six, P-8I, long-range reconnaissance planes will greatly enhance India’s sea reconnaissance capability. These planes will be data linked with other air surveillance planes, surface ships and space based assets. This US$2.1 billion purchase together with AWACS and AEW&C are designed to warn hostile forces to stay as far away from Indian interests as possible.
Still, all the forgoing is an enhanced defensive posture of India. It will soon be enhanced with locally developed and externally purchased fighter jets, which will take the fight to the enemy.
The shape of India’s armed forces, which was dull and dreary for the last fifty years, is about to be modernized with an offensive punch in next 5 to 10 years.
--
(Hari Sud is a retired vice president of C-I-L Inc., a former investment strategies analyst and international relations manager. A graduate of Punjab University and the University of Missouri, he has lived in Canada for the past 34 years. ©Copyright Hari Sud.)
By Hari Sud
February 06, 2009
Toronto, ON, Canada, — Three weeks ago, an Indian AWACS – airborne warning and control system – plane made its debut over New Delhi. Two more are on order and will arrive in a year’s time. Additional purchases of this top-of-the-line plane in the near future will enhance India’s defensive posture against both China and Pakistan.
A deal with Israel in 2004 to supply the Phalcon radar, which uses Active Phased Array Electronic Scanning Technology, cost India US$1.1 billion. Russia supplied India with its highly upgraded IL-76TD workhorse planes, which are fitted with powerful PS-90 engines, via Kazakhstan. This aircraft and its engines have been modified for the hot and humid climate of India.
The above-mentioned acquisition is a force multiplier for the Indian Air Force. AWACS aircraft are able to detect any enemy airborne activity – including when and were enemy planes take off from bases up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) away and the direction in which they are heading – while staying 100 kilometers (62 miles) within its own border.
Two of these AWACS aircraft patrolling the western front, well within India’s territory, can cover the sensitive Punjab-Rajasthan border. The Phalcon radar, the most sophisticated to date, can also collect surface information about troop movements and missile launches and can listen into highly confidential communications between Pakistan’s frontline units.
Militarily, surveillance and advance knowledge of enemy activity is ultimately a force multiplier. An earlier version of this plane was used during the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1973. Israelis shot down most of the Syrian and Egyptian planes without losing any to the enemy, using the early version. The United States also used it during the Gulf War to take out Iraqi planes. The remaining Iraqi pilots of MiG-23s and MiG-29s fled to Iran to escape the terror in the sky.
Israelis and Americans gave this technology the name AWACS because of its long-range capability. Similar technology mounted on a smaller but very capable plane is called AEW&C, for Airborne Early Warning & Control. Since India has a great deal of territory to cover, acquisition of smaller, more flexible planes with mounted surveillance radars makes sense. In this case, the radar and electronics can be homemade. India’s choice of aircraft for its own AEW&C system is Brazil’s Embraer 145 business/regional jet plane.
The key word here is operational flexibility. Whereas the IL-76 AWACS aircraft requires a lot of area to take off and land, the Embraer can take off and land at smaller airports. This is key to a layered approach to surveillance, including hostile missiles.
What does India’s hostile neighbor have for aerial surveillance?
Pakistan does not want India to have the upper hand. Although it has U.S. money handy to match India’s military spending, nobody is selling them the advanced AWACS. So, they have settled for six Swedish SAAB-2000 turbo prop planes with Ericsson surveillance radars. The deal is worth US$1.5 billion.
They would have preferred U.S. or Israeli phased ray radar but its unavailability changed their choice to SAAB/Ericsson. The latter is equipped with Saab Microwave Systems, Erieye surveillance radar and nine-hour loitering capability. This is as good as what the Swedes can supply, but lacks actual battlefield experience. At best these are comparable to India’s homegrown AEW&C.
China lost to India when they negotiated the same deal with Israel to buy Phalcons in 2000-2001 as U.S. intervention prevented the technology transfer. The hardware, which could have gone to the Chinese, was switched to India.
Like India in the late nineties, China began experimenting with home built AWACS. Initially they turned to Russia and purchased Beriev A-50 radar planes. These are exact copies of the U.S. E-3 Sentry radar planes except that they were mounted on Russian Il-76 aircrafts. Totally dissatisfied, they began experimenting with their own phased ray radar. Their experimental AWACS crashed in 2006, killing forty of their best scientists and technicians. China wants to dump it in favor of Boeing 737-800 planes.
The Boeing plane with homemade Chinese radars is dubbed as KJ-2000. Equipped by the most modern technology, which China can lay its hands on, three such planes are being built. The KJ-2000’s radar has a range of about 300 kilometers. It is the nearest match to what the U.S. flies in and around Taiwan. Although the Chinese are happy with their decision, improvements are a long way off in the absence of relevant technology, which it has not yet received.
Realizing that India is ahead in this force multiplier acquisition and nobody else is able to supply them, Pakistan has been making attempts to convince the Chinese to acquire similar planes on their behalf for an undisclosed sum.
Last year the Chinese KJ-2000 was seen at Pakistan’s Chakalala airport giving an operational demonstration. China is very keen to secure a deal with Pakistan on these aircrafts, as it will help them defray their huge developmental costs.
The intimidation factor of AWACS is immense. Imagine Pakistan planning a major air raid in India over Srinagar, Kashmir and poised to fly super secret missions from its airports in Rawalpindi, Sialkote, and Sargodha, which are about 200 kilometers from the Indian border. The success of such missions depend on the element of surprise they achieve and an Indian AWACS flying a surveillance mission in a wide arc over Kashmir, Punjab and the Ladakh region can detect Pakistan’s aerial movements and ambush it.
Concurrently, the Swedish made Pakistani AEW&C and possibly Chinese AWACS can also detect India’s movements. Realizing that the mission is doomed Pakistan’s high command could call off the raids. So, AWACS can avoid an ugly aerial fight.
AWACS and AEW&C planes are not invulnerable. They fly 200-300 kilometers away from the hostile war zones. A concerted effort from enemy fighters could force it to retreat far beyond its 300-kilometer safe distance. As a turbo-prop heavy lift plane is very vulnerable to Beyond-Visual-Range attacks, it needs an escort of fighters to ward off such threats.
Imagine a Chinese air attack on central Indian air bases in the wake of their ground losses in India’s Ladakh region or their inability to capture Twang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They could send their SU-27’s over the Himalayas from bases far away or send cruise missiles from bases closer to the Tibet-India border. The early knowledge of incoming planes or missiles will help India in beating back the air attack and saving its air assets. Without the early warnings from AWACS, Indian airbases are very vulnerable to enemy attacks. So, AWACS is a big asset.
At sea, India’s recent contract with Boeing for six, P-8I, long-range reconnaissance planes will greatly enhance India’s sea reconnaissance capability. These planes will be data linked with other air surveillance planes, surface ships and space based assets. This US$2.1 billion purchase together with AWACS and AEW&C are designed to warn hostile forces to stay as far away from Indian interests as possible.
Still, all the forgoing is an enhanced defensive posture of India. It will soon be enhanced with locally developed and externally purchased fighter jets, which will take the fight to the enemy.
The shape of India’s armed forces, which was dull and dreary for the last fifty years, is about to be modernized with an offensive punch in next 5 to 10 years.
--
(Hari Sud is a retired vice president of C-I-L Inc., a former investment strategies analyst and international relations manager. A graduate of Punjab University and the University of Missouri, he has lived in Canada for the past 34 years. ©Copyright Hari Sud.)
Myth_buster_1
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^ Hari Sud is a joke! i am sure defence.pk can come up with better analysis.
hj786
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fatman17
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Yup, that must be the most laughably inaccurate article on AWACS in South Asia that has ever been concieved.
"India's hostile neighbour"As if India has never been hostile to Pakistan.
fatman please edit your post and delete that article, it is so full of crap.
friend - there is no need to delete - if one dosnt agree, that is ok - you have made your viewpoint and that is fine!
Zob
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Ok Mr.Hari doesn't realise a fact that PAKISTAN has a defensive posture and not INDIA....i mean we are the ones that talk about minimum detterance....i swear sometimes the ridiculous things the indians say make me wonder do they honestly believe the cr*p they say.....
hj786
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I guess you were just showing the viewpoint of certain people, I hope they continue to under-estimate the PAF and Chinese equipment.
notorious_eagle
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I guess you were just showing the viewpoint of certain people, I hope they continue to under-estimate the PAF and Chinese equipment.
So thats good for us
, they were already stunned when PAF foiled their plans for surgical strikes 
.
MastanKhan
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Hi Fatman,
Thankyou for that article----this piece is a great insight into the mind of the opponent---he is letting us know right upfront where his head is---what his capabilities are and how he looks at our abilities and performance.
Now---we know more about ourselves---so this notice helps us in many ways---if we are below or are at par with this article---it is a time for a reality check and do things differently and find a new medium to take us to the next level----but if we are ahead of the curve and our opponent doesnot know about it---then it is time for us fine tune our capabilities a little more.
So---all in all---this piece gets my blessings. Thankyou Hari for your time.
Zob
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the most bias article ever....by the way can we integrate KJ200,SAAB EREIYE & ALL THE WESTERN FIGHTERS.... i mean i can see a logistical nightmare in the making... and given our transport is lacking currently.. the situation can get really dire....
z9-ec
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I don't know if this was posted before but Kanwa Asian Defence is reporting that the first PAF Saab 2000 is at the final stage of testing and the aircraft will soon be with PAF. This was published on 2009-01-30 at the Kanwa website.
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