AEW&CS Project Poised for Successful Completion, AWACS(I) Next

AEW&CS at Aero India 2013

According to a recent written reply in parliament by the Defense Minister, the AEW&CS is on schedule for completion by March 2014.

During DefExpo 2014, a CABS official gave IDP Sentinel pretty much the same message.

The projected which was initially expected to be completed by October 2011 is in its final stages and will be completed by March 2014.

The first EMB-145I to be delivered to India under the contract ceremonially rolled out in Brazil on February 21, 2011.

Embraer has so far delivered 2 EMB-145I aircraft. The third and the last aircraft would be delivered in December 2014.

The two delivered aircraft are fully configured for their role and undergoing acceptance tests by an IAF technical evaluation team. There are no serious issues. The software is being tweaked based on IAF inputs.

After delivering the three EMB-145I AEW&CS, CABS will focus on the AWACS(I) project which will feature a 3 antenna AESA radar housed in a non rotating rotodome, like the one mounted on the IAF's AWACS supplied by Israel, for full 360-deg coverage at all time. The side mounted twin antennas on the current AEW&CS provide 120-deg coverage on either side.

The platform for AWAC(I) is yet to be finalized.

For those with access to IDP Sentinel, I have updated the AEW&CS page with new information shared by CABS at DefExpo 2014.