The Indian Air Force received the first indigenously designed Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system, NETRA, on the inauguration day of Aero India-2017 at Bangalore in February 2017.
In February 2017, the IAF received its first indigenously developed AEW&C system, which was installed on a Brazilian Embraer-145 jet, providing the enhanced capability to detect hostile aircraft and missiles.
DRDO developed the Netra AEW&C system, which has a range of about 200 km.
According to people familiar with the situation, India's Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has decided to develop new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft using Airbus jets procured by the DRDO for the Indian Air Force approved the proposal.
According to one of the directors cited above, the project is valued at around Rs 11,000 crore. The approval was accorded along with the long-awaited acquisition of 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft to replace the old Avro-748 fleet of the IAF. The cost of the C-295 project is expected to be $22,000 million.
In February 2017, the IAF received its first indigenously developed AEW&C system, which was installed on a Brazilian Embraer-145 jet, providing the enhanced capability to detect hostile aircraft and missiles. DRDO developed the Netra AEW&C system, which has a range of about 200 km.
According to the official, the new AEW&C system, which will likely be installed on Airbus A321 aircraft, will be more sophisticated than the Eye system. There are currently two ophthalmic systems in use.
Three Israeli Falcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) established on Russian IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft are being used by the IAF. The method has a range of 400 km.
Experts tell Indian Defence News that the Indian Air Force needs more of these systems to cover the eastern and western sectors during offensive operations.
The consent for the new AEW&C aircraft arrives at a time when the government is concentrating more on developing self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector and establishing itself as a military hardware exporter.
As part of the Make-in-India effort in the aerospace industry, Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will collaborate on the C-295 project to supply modern transport aircraft to the Indian Air Force. The first 16 aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in in-flight condition, the remaining 40 will be built in India by TASL.
The government has banned the import of 209 defence products during the last year, which will be phased out from 2021 to 2025. This restriction extends to the AEW&C system.
In the last two years, the government has taken several steps to increase self-reliance in the defence sector, including increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing, creating a separate budget for buying locally manufactured military hardware, and notifying two Is. List of weaponry and things that cannot be imported.
Artillery guns, missile destroyers, ship-borne cruise missiles, light combat aircraft, long-range ground attack cruise missiles, basic trainer aircraft, certain types of helicopters, and next-generation corvettes are among 209 weapons and systems not imported can go.
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