New Delhi: The Indian Air Force is all set to place orders for an additional two Israeli Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) systems, over and above the two already in service and the third one due to be inducted soon.

The Phalcon AWCS system is mounted on Russian Ilyushin-76 aircraft. The IAF has already inducted two of these aircraft into its fleet, one in May last year and another in March this year, and is scheduled to induct the third one in December of this year.

Reports quote the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, as saying that the force had moved forward the case for the addition of two more of these aircraft with authorities.

The Israeli Phalcon AWACS system was contracted for in 2004 under a tripartite agreement involving India, Russia and Israel for $1.1 billion. The Il-76 aircraft frames were sourced from Uzbekistan and have been equipped with improved engines and Russian avionics. 

The first of the AWACS arrived in India in May 2009 after innumerable delays resulting from delayed delivery of aircraft by the Uzbeks and synergising of Russian and Israeli systems.

The second arrived in March 2010 and the third is slated to be inducted by December.

The IAF chief has expressed his satisfaction with the systems calling them ''tremendous force-multipliers.''  He has revealed that the two aircraft already inducted will receive their final operational clearance by October-November this year.

The Phalcon AWACS system is a complex weapons platform which allows various complex battlefield functions to be carried out simultaneously.

Earlier, reports in April 2008 had suggested that India may have picked up options for three more IL-76 Phalcon AWACS aircraft, in a deal worth up to $2 billion. The authoritative Jane's Defence Weekly had confirmed the report placing the value of the deal at $1 billion. According to sources delivery of these three additional planes was expected to take place in 2011-12.

The order for three may have been curtailed to two or the order for the third aircraft may be placed at a later date keeping the exigencies of funding in mind.

The Phalcon System

The IL-76 Phalcons are part of a larger air defence architecture for the Indian Air Force which includes the Operational Data Link (ODL), the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) and Air Force Net (AFNET).

The first of the five proposed IACCS is slated to come up in the western sector soon.

The Phalcon uses the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), an active phased array radar with a 360 degree coverage. The radar's transmit/receive (T/R) modules allow a beam to be electronically steered, making a physically rotating rotodome unnecessary.

A rotodome is moving radar found on some AEW&C aircraft.

The phased array radar allows positions of aircraft on operator screens to be updated every 2-4 seconds, rather than every 20-40 seconds as is the case on the rotodome AWACS.

AESA radars operate on a random set of frequencies and have very short scanning rates, which makes them difficult to detect and jam. Up to 100 targets can be tracked simultaneously to a range of 200 nmi (370 km), while at the same time, over a dozen air-to-air interception or air-to-ground attack can be guided.

New Generation AEW Platform:

Israeli manufacturers of the system say long-range, high performance, multi-sensor Phalcon AEW introduces a new level of performance to airborne early warning, tactical surveillance of airborne and surface targets, and the gathering of signal intelligence.

This is primarily done through a unique integration of sensors. The Phalcon's four main sensors are the AESA radar, IFF, ESM/ELINT and CSM/COMINT.

A unique fusion technique continuously cross-correlates data generated by all sensors. This data is combined with an automatically initiated active search by one sensor for specific targets detected by other sensors.

Radar beams can be pointed at any direction in space at any time, with the beam's parameters fully controlled by the radar computer. The radar employs a flexible time-space energy management technique which provides the following advanced capabilities:

Selectable surveillance: Surveillance can be limited to the battle zone and other areas of interest. The scan rate in these selected areas is much higher.

Optimized detection and tracking: A special mode for manoeuvring and high value targets employs a high scan rate and beam shapes optimized for each target to ensure tracking performance.

Fast track initiation and no false alarms: Verification beams sent at specific, individual, newly detected targets. Track initiation is achieved in 2-4 seconds. Eliminates false alarms.

Extended detection range: By transmitting extra long dwells in selected sectors, an extended detection range is achieved.

High Fault Tolerance and Redundancy: The system uses distributed, solid state transmitting and receiving elements. Each element is controlled in phase and amplitude. The system continues its operation even if some of the units are faulty.

Advanced IFF employing solid state phase array technology.

Electronic Intelligence

The PHALCON's advanced ESM/ELINT system is fully integrated with the radar and other sensors, and is designed to operate in very dense signal environments, providing simultaneous 360 coverage. The system uses narrow-band and wide-band receivers to provide very high sensitivity and high probability of interception of airborne and surface emitters.

The system also collects and analyzes ELINT data.

Communication Intelligence

Tuned in to airborne, ground and ship-borne transmissions. The PHALCON's CSM/COMINT receives in UHF, VHF and HF, rapidly searching for airborne, ship-borne or ground communications signals of interest. Selected radio nets can be monitored for signal activity. A DF capability locates targets. Detected signals can be assigned to monitoring receivers instantaneously. The system makes extensive use of computers to reduce the load on operators.