Indian Defense Ministry has cleared the purchase of two Airbus A330 aircraft for the indigenous Airborne Warning and Control System (...
Indian Defense Ministry has cleared the purchase of two Airbus A330 aircraft for the indigenous Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radar platform for Indian Air Force.
The $818 million deal was cleared on March 28, by Defense Acquisition Council chaired by Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. The deal will be the first AWACS modification for Airbus and its A330 platform.
The AWACS system will be developed by Center for Airborne Systems(CABS), a Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) lab. The modification and certification of the 10m diameter rotodome support will be carried out by Airbus.
The A330 was selected to utilize the commercial maintenance ecosystem available, as the current Russian IL-76 platform is difficult to maintain due to shortage of parts.
A further four A330s will be ordered in future.
The A330 AWACS will complement the three IL-76 based Phalcon AWACS operated by IAF. CABS has also developed a Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&CS) based on the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet platform, which is slated for delivery to IAF later this year.
This is the second rotodome project of DRDO, after the 'Airavat' program, which was based on a Avro HS-748 turboprop aircraft. The program ended following the crash of the first prototype in 1999, due to a structural failure of the oversized rotodome.
The $818 million deal was cleared on March 28, by Defense Acquisition Council chaired by Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. The deal will be the first AWACS modification for Airbus and its A330 platform.
The AWACS system will be developed by Center for Airborne Systems(CABS), a Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) lab. The modification and certification of the 10m diameter rotodome support will be carried out by Airbus.
The A330 was selected to utilize the commercial maintenance ecosystem available, as the current Russian IL-76 platform is difficult to maintain due to shortage of parts.
A further four A330s will be ordered in future.
The A330 AWACS will complement the three IL-76 based Phalcon AWACS operated by IAF. CABS has also developed a Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&CS) based on the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet platform, which is slated for delivery to IAF later this year.
This is the second rotodome project of DRDO, after the 'Airavat' program, which was based on a Avro HS-748 turboprop aircraft. The program ended following the crash of the first prototype in 1999, due to a structural failure of the oversized rotodome.
