The Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEWACS) is a project of India's Defence Research & Development Organization to develop an AWACS system for the Indian Air Force.
In 2003, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out a joint study of the system-level requirements and feasibility of development for an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWAC) system.The government then approved the project for the development of the AEWAC system by DRDO. Primary responsibility for the project was with DRDO's Bangalore-based Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), which led the design, system integration and testing of the system. LRDE was responsible for the design of the radar array. Defence Electronics Application Laboratory, based in Dehradun, was responsible for the Data Link and Communication Systems for AEW&CS.
The DRDO AEWACS program aims to deliver three radar-equipped surveillance aircraft to the Indian Air Force. The aircraft platform selected was the Embraer ERJ 145. Three ERJ 145 were procured from Embraer at a cost of US $ 300 Million, including the contracted modifications to the airframe. The project goal was to deploy these AEW&C aircraft by 2013.India's sole previous effort to develop an AEWAC system was the Airborne Surveillance Platform, but the program, codenamed Airavat, was ended after the only testbed crashed. The AEW&C project aimed to supplement the larger and more capable EL/W-2090 AWACS acquired by the IAF from Israel. Three EL/W-2090 systems have been ordered, with follow-on orders of 3 more expected in 2010.Apart from providing the IAF with a cheaper and hence, more flexible AEW&C platform as a backup to its more capable EL/W-2090 class systems, the DRDO AEW&C project aimed to develop the domestic ability to design and operationalize airborne surveillance platforms.
The delivery of six additional systems ordered in October 2010 is to begin from 2015. In June 2010, it was reported that the Indian Air Force is said to be looking at acquiring up to 20 additional systems, in addition to the existing systems on order.
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