Russia ships two unfinished A-50E/I intented for Indian Air Force new AWACS

[PARIKRAMA]

Russia ships two unfinished A-50E/I intented for Indian Air Force new AWACS














Asian Defence News: Russia ships two unfinished A-50E/I intented for Indian Air Force new AWACS

India wants to purchase more A-50E/I AWACS aircraft
New Delhi, India - Based on IL-76

The "The Times of India" announced that New Delhi wants to purchase another two A-50E/I AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft, a Russian-Israeli co-production based on the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft destined for India, of which it has already ordered three following an agreement dating back to 2004 valued 1.1 billion dollars.

As declared by a source from the Indian Ministry of Defence, negotiations for the 800 million dollar deal are in their final stages.

This agreement is considered as an extension to the 2004 contract, and according to tabloids, India's desire to acquire a further two units would be the answer to Pakistan's purchase of four Saab-2000 aircraft from Sweden; Islamabad is also waiting to receive the first of four ZDK-3 AWACS aircraft from China.

The A-50E/I AWACS (NATO code name Mainstay) is an aircraft developed by the designers of Beriev, which is the Russian equivalent of the Boeing E-3 Sentry, and is easily recognizable because of its rotodome (rotating radome) which contains the radar antenna. It is equipped with the Israeli Phalcon radar designed specifically for the Indian Air Force.

The Chinese version is called the KJ-2000. (Avionews)

Avionews.com | India wants to purchase more A-50E/I AWACS aircraft

 

[Agent_47]

Ships to where ? Israel ?

 

[#hydra#]

Why DRDO has opted Airbus over il76 for next gen AWACS ?too many platforms will make fleet upkeepment more costly.

 

[45'22']

Why DRDO has opted Airbus over il76 for next gen AWACS ?too many platforms will make fleet upkeepment more costly.

I guess for bigger platforms

 

[vostok]

Ships to where ? Israel ?

They are swimming to Russia via the Caspian Sea.
At the moment - through the Volga-Don canal to Taganrog, where it will be assembled.

 

[#hydra#]

I guess for bigger platforms

If DRDO planing for large and more capable radar than Israeli one then its ok and i seriously doubt abt DRDO's capability in this matter,otherwise iam not seeing any advantage for a330 based AWACS.il76 is having a good safety recordsand it is tailor made for operating in war zone with a decent range.

 

[anant_s]

So we'll have 5 Phalcon radar AWACS and later an unspecified number of A 330 mounted Indian AESA AWACS.
Is anyone aware of any agreement between India and Israel for purchase of Additional two Phalcon radars?
@500 @sancho @Abingdonboy

Why DRDO has opted Airbus over il76 for next gen AWACS ?

One reason was cost of IL 76, Russia had increased to price of IL 76 and that led to India looking beyond IL 76 for additional AWACS requirements.
A 2013 report (..:: India Strategic ::. IAF: IAF to Go in for 10 more AWACS Rafale Deal hopefully by July) pointed out that India is looking for 10 more AWACS (in addition to 3 already in service). While negotiations for two more was underway (the ones reported in the OP), newer ones were to be based on A 330 or Boeing 767. A 330 has recently been declared winner for the contest and it makes sense because the same model (A 330 MRTT) is also chosen for Mid Air Refueller, so the advantage of commonality.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Ships to where ? Israel ?

No not to Israel- they will fly to Israel (as the previous three did), they will now go to another Russian plant to be completed, they are clearly not in their finished state yet (no wings, no engines, no tails and I doubt they have any internals either).

Why DRDO has opted Airbus over il76 for next gen AWACS ?too many platforms will make fleet upkeepment more costly.

For a whole host of reasons
1) 2 (very efficient) engines over 4 (not so efficient) engines is clearly preferable in terms of keeping maintenance and running costs down
2) The A330 is FAR more cost-effective to run as it is already in mass use in the commercial aviation industry where costs are monitored down to the last cent. The IL-76/A-50 have ALWAYS been very expensive to keep air-worthy
3) The A330, by its very nature, is easier to maintain, the IL-76 family are notoriously difficult to maintain
4) MRO facilties for Airbus a/c already exist within India and are only set to grow (Indian airlines are buying Airbus airliners by the 100s and Airbus are investing more and more inside India- see the recent PM visit to Toulouse).
5) The A330 is the future for the IAF- they are already getting 6 A330 MRTTs in the near future (likely to be expanded to 12/18 units later) the IL-76 and 78 will be phased out in the coming years so the IAF's AWACS fleet (the DRDO-made ones anyway) will have commonality with other a/c in the fleet. In about a decade the 5 A-50EI Phalcons will be the sole Ilyushin products in service not just in the IAF but in all of India.

The A330>A-50 for the AWACS role as simple as that.

o we'll have 5 Phalcon radar AWACS and later an unspecified number of A 330 mounted Indian AESA AWACS.
Is anyone aware of any agreement between India and Israel for purchase of Additional two Phalcon radars?
@500 @sancho @Abingdonboy

I have heard for a long time the IAF wanted to exercise the option for 2 more Phalcons but had not seen much movement on this front until now, will be interesting to see if this is official.

 

[kaykay]

IAF will ultimately get 5 Phalcons on IL-76s, 6 DRDO AWACS based on A-330, 8 DRDO AEW&C( one for DRDO itself so 7 exactly). That's 19 AWACS and AEW&C.

 

[1ndy]

IAF will ultimately get 5 Phalcons on IL-76s, 6 DRDO AWACS based on A-330, 8 DRDO AEW&C( one for DRDO itself so 7 exactly). That's 19 AWACS and AEW&C.

are 19 enough to monitor all of Indian airspace?

 

[Umair Nawaz]

LOL who writes this crap? Pakistan has received all its ZDK-03 aircrafts.

 

[kaykay]

are 19 enough to monitor all of Indian airspace?

All Indian airspace is not concern here rather those with borders. I guess 19 is enough to cover almost 90% of border areas if not all.

 

[DeathInvader]

LOL who writes this crap? Pakistan has received all its ZDK-03 aircrafts.

Congratulations! Now can we get back to the Indian awacs ?

 

[sancho]

Why DRDO has opted Airbus over il76 for next gen AWACS ?too many platforms will make fleet upkeepment more costly.

This is the platform for additional Phalcon AWACS and DRDO has not opted over the A50, but chose the only option they had, since no other vendor than Airbus replied to their RFP. And after the Avro, LUH and MMRCA disasters, foreign vendors will be even less interested in replying to Indian RFP's since we are an unreliable country for defence business.

But you are right costs of too many types of aircrafts in the same roles, which is why IAF tries to reduce the numbers on all fronts, while Indian industry is only looking at their benefits and the government is blindly supporting them. HAL HTT40 in the same role as the Pilatus PC7, DRDO's A330 AWACS, in the same roles as the A50 Phalcon and EMB 145I. So we adding costs and complicating operations of IAF, just to add some developments of HAL and DRDO, not because IAF actually needs them.

 

[#hydra#]

This is the platform for additional Phalcon AWACS and DRDO has not opted over the A50, but chose the only option they had, since no other vendor than Airbus replied to their RFP. And after the Avro, LUH and MMRCA disasters, foreign vendors will be even less interested in replying to Indian RFP's since we are an unreliable country for defence business.

But you are right costs of too many types of aircrafts in the same roles, which is why IAF tries to reduce the numbers on all fronts, while Indian industry is only looking at their benefits and the government is blindly supporting them. HAL HTT40 in the same role as the Pilatus PC7, DRDO's A330 AWACS, in the same roles as the A50 Phalcon and EMB 145I. So we adding costs and complicating operations of IAF, just to add some developments of HAL and DRDO, not because IAF actually needs them.

Just one qstn.in emergency situation like war which awacs platform is more handy il76 based one ore AWACS mounted on civilian airliner like a330? In the recent Yemen crisisi we used globmaster instead of civilian airliners where later is having monstrous passenger carrying capacity.