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Bengaluru, March 28: India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar cleared a proposal to build two ‘prying planes’ making use of the expertise of Bengaluru-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), a premier lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Ahead of his maiden foreign visit to Japan, Parrikar cleared the proposal to build two Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) in India and sanctioned Rs 5,113 crore for the same. These two platforms are to be built on an Airbus A-330 for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The decision was taken at the high-power Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting on Saturday. The government plans to build a total of six AWACS in India in phases.
Currently the CABS is undertaking flight-testing and integration work of an Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) System, on an Embraer (EMB-145I). Two such systems have already undergoing critical tests in various air bases in India. The first system is expected to be handed over to the IAF within the next three months.
As reported by OneIndia during Aero India 2015, the second AEW&C System is expected to be handed over to the IAF in September this year for user evaluation trials. DRSDO had announced that the third aircraft will be arriving in India by July 2015.
Full report on OneIndia.
