Embraer delivers first modified AEW&C aircraft to be fitted with DRDO systems
24 Aug 2012
The first fully modified aircraft for indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems landed on Indian soil at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), Bangalore, a DRDO laboratory), at the HAL airport yesterday.
A team comprising representatives from the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) completed the acceptance formalities of the Aircraft at Embraer Facilities in Brazil over a period of the past 15 days.
The aircraft, flagged off from the Embraer facilities in Brazil, on 17 August, was flown across multiple continents before arriving in India. The aircraft was ferried with several mission system external components of DRDO, including the active electronically scanned array antenna with passive electronics fitted on the aircraft, DRDO said in a release.
The aircraft will now be integrated with DRDO developed mission system, which will be followed by development flight trials in India beginning 2013.
It may be noted that this is the first aircraft delivered by Embraer, for which the contract was signed in 2008. The next aircraft is expected to arrive in December this year.
Static radars for Mumbai, Porbandar
