NETRA MK-2 early warning system based on A321 will form the AWAC system
Indian Air Force has presently has just five AWACS — three Israeli – Phalcon systems mounted on Russian IL-76 transport aircraft and two DRDO-developed Netra MK-1 AWACS mounted on Brazilian Embraer ERJ-145 platform.
There is third Netra MK-1 also is in-service but it is with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a test-bed for further development of Netra MK-2 AWACS.
AWACS aircrafts have large radar-dish mounted on the top of the airframe. These high-powered radar, act as eyes in the skies and being airborne are more capable than ground mounted radars, due to land-based radars’ physical limitations of the Earth’s curvature limiting their field of view. The AWACS flying high in the sky can see everything and does not have these restrictions.
India needs, at a rough guesstimate àtleast five Netra type AWACS per existing Air Command ie 20 for 24×7 surveillance ( including built in reserves). Then we needa few additional signal intelligence/ communication jamming or SIGNIT-capable aircrafts.
In 2015, a plan had been approved for buying two A330 wide-body airliners from Airbus, for modifications into an AWACS and later four more such aircrafts. However with success of Netra project , as per the new plan the Airbus A330-based airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) program has been replaced with A321-based Netra MK-2 AWACS.
Accordingly six A321 airliners of the erstwhile Air India have already been transferred to Indian Air Force, for conversions into AWACS. These A321s will be shipped to the Airbus facility in France for modifications.
Thereafter in India these aircrafts will be fitted with an advanced version of the Netra MK-1 radar, called Netra MK-2, which will have more range and is expected to have a larger field of view — of more than 240 degree — of the earlier Netra MK-1.
Among the six A321 airliners acquired by the IAF from Air India, two are being converted for development into electronic warfare aircrafts.
Additionally, one of them has been converted into an airborne laboratory-cum-test bed for development of future electronic intelligence and electronic warfare technologies and sensors, called Anusandhan.
As an immediate step IAF must identify the aircraft for modification into AWACS ….Will C285 fit the bill ? then nothing like it.
