DRDO to develop six new AEW&C aircraft to keep an eye on Pakistan & China

In a bid to ramp up the Defence infrastructure against the aggression of Pakistan and China, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is said to develop six new Airborne Early Warning and Control planes. The AEW&C will be built on aircraft from Air India which will improve the Indian Air Force's surveillance capabilities along borders with China and Pakistan. The six new aircraft with surveillance systems are being called as 'eyes in the sky' and once the project is completed, the aircraft will be stationed at different places in the countries for effective surveillance along the borders of Pakistan and China.

The project is said to cost around Rs 10,500 crore where six aircraft would be acquired from Air India and modified into AEW&C Block 2 aircraft to fly with a radar that will give 360-degree surveillance capability to the defence forces. 

"The six AEW&C Block-II planes would be highly capable than their predecessor NETRA plane and provide 360-degree coverage deep inside the enemy territory during missions. The government is expected to clear the project soon," government sources told ANI.

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Project to complete in shorter time frame

The plan has seemingly changed as earlier the DRDO had planned to build six Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) on the Airbus 330 aircraft for which some facilities were planned to be created in Bengaluru. According to the earlier plan, the six new aircraft would be sent to a European destination to the original equipment manufacturer for modification of the planes for installing the radar. However, the new project is said to be designed keeping in mind the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiative, ANI said citing sources.

The Block-I of the project had taken longer than required for execution, however, with the learnings of Block-I, DRDO's Centre for Airborne Studies lab has exuded confidence of completing the Block-2 project in a shorter time frame.

The Indian Air Force earlier used three PHALCON AWACS systems which had the Israeli and Russian technology - the Israeli Radar with Russian Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft. Moreover, the two Netra aircraft provided by the DRDO have also been deployed extensively during the recent conflicts to keep a watch over the activities of the adversaries.

(With ANI inputs)

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