Prying plane undergoes flight trials at forward IAF bases | CABS selects BEL as ELSA | Project on track

A rare air-to-air photo of the prying plane undergoing flight trials. 

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected to receive the first Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) system by the end of this year. Two AEW&C systems, built on modified Embraer EMB-145I aircraft, are undergoing flight trials with one more expected to arrive from Brazil later this year. A senior scientist at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) told Express that after handing over the first aircraft, parallel flight tests and fine-tuning of the mission systems on the second aircraft will continue, based on the IAF feed back. The official confirmed that in addition to the air bases in and around Bangalore, the prying plane has already had flight test campaigns in Jamnagar and Agra. 

"Being a complex system we need to approach the integration in a systematic manner. Safety is our top priority and we are proceeding cautiously at every step. During the integration process, the performance of all mission systems matched our expectations. We are now testing each of these mission systems in an independent mode, followed by operating them together in an integrated manner," the official said. So far both aircraft have clocked more than 200 sorties, logging over 350 flying hours.

The first public display of the AEW&C system, widely known as the prying plane, was during the IAF Day celebrations in 2012 and early this year, it was taken to Bahrain for an air show. As reported by Express earlier, the Defence Research and Development Organisation is exploring the potential of exporting the system for South American countries. 

The official said that Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has been selected as the ELSA (Engineering and Life Support Agency) for the project. "Since the AEW&C is a highly complex system, its requirement too is in limited numbers. Hence establishing of a dedicated production facility is not viable. The support requirement for the aircraft will be provided by Embraer, while BEL will take care of the mission systems," the official said. He said BEL was selected as the ELSA after undergoing an elaborate process mandated for technology absorption.

With the prying plane programme, India has emerged as one of the few nations after the US, Israel and Sweden to have developed such complex systems. "In addition to owing AEW&C, India can today boast of having developed world class systems on active phased array radar. In the process CABS has also emerged as a premier agency capable of developing airborne surveillance systems," the official said. 

CABS has also established cutting edge technologies in areas such as airborne active array antenna, identification of friend or foe systems, mission computers, data handling and display systems, mechanical racks and tactical software to name a few. The IAF has a huge presence at the CABS aiding the prying plane project especially in complex areas of flight testing and evaluation of systems optimally.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

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Team CABS with the two AEW&C systems in the background. The team is lead by Dr S Christopher.

Prying plane begins shakedown flight trials | To be displayed during IAF Day parade at Hindon

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platform, India’s recently-acquired eye-in-the-sky aircraft, had its first flight loaded with desi mission systems on September 29. Defence sources term the flight as shakedown trials, carrying electronic warfare (EW) systems developed by Bangalore-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS).

Built on a modified Embraer platform (EMB-145I), the prying plane had arrived in Bangalore (from Brazil) on August 22. “The aircraft has been integrated with mission system avionics racks populated with line replacement units (LRUs). The internal layout of the aircraft has been modified as it is integrated with the operator work stations and operator chairs as per the final AEW&C configuration. The initial shakedown flights are vital for the AEW&C programme,” sources told Express.

External changes too have been carried out on the aircraft to replace the dummy electronics with actual final functional units. “We have got the flight clearance for initial trials with our systems from the Center for Military Airworthiness Certification, after a thorough inspection. The shakedown sorties aim to ascertain the compliance of structural installation of mission systems,” sources said.

The aircraft was flown by pilots from Indian Air Force's (IAF) Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE). “A test team comprising of senior scientists from CABS and flight test Engineers, flew in the aircraft to carry out the experiments,” sources said. The developmental flight tests of AEW&C is expected to commence from January 2013, after exhaustive ground tests. The next aircraft is expected from to arrive in India by December 2012.

An ASTE official said that the AEW&C will be the star attraction during this year's Air Force Day parade on October 8, at the Hindon air base. “We are planning to ferry the aircraft to Delhi on October 3 with all installed mission systems. The aircraft will be on a public display for the first time,” the official said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Tarmak007 Videos: India's EMB-145 AEW&C aircraft ready for roll-out in Brazil

A TV-007 aXess video

India’s Embraer-built Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) aircraft (EMB-145) is scheduled for roll-out on Feb. 21 in Brazil. Top DRDO officials are already in Brazil for the event. The first flight of the modified EMB-145 is expected around May and by August 2011 the platform will land in India (CABS Bangalore) for system integration. During Aero India 2011 press meet, DRDO Chief Dr V.K. Saraswat had confirmed that a new system (with 360 degrees operational capabilities) will also come soon. The above TV-007 video is just a sneak preview into scheme of things to come.

Aviation Week report here

DRDO develops SATCOM datalink for Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System

Ku-band antenna and RF system for AEW&C. Photo: DRDO

Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System is a force multiplier being designed and developed by DRDO, with the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), Bangalore, as the nodal agency for the program. Airborne Early Warning and Control System is a system of systems consisting of multiple sensors for surveillance, and signal intelligence and electronic warfare and is based on a modified EMB-145 executive jet.
The data from all the sensors are integrated at the Mission System Controller and presented to the onboard operators for situational awareness on multiple reconfigurable Operator Workstations. The AEW&C system aids the operator in fighter control missions for support in air defense operations and has the capability to communicate with the fighters over V/UHF data-links. The recognizable air surveillance picture is communicated to the ground command and control network of IAF using line-of-sight (LOS) data-link in C-band and beyond LOS Satellite Communication (SATCOM) link in Ku-band.
An airborne SATCOM datalink has been designed and developed for the first time in the country as part of the AEW&C Programme by Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL), Dehradun, a constituent laboratory of DRDO, based on the requirements provided by CABS. The hardware for the Base Band Unit (BBU) has been configured based on the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution evolved by CABS. The solution meets the requirement of providing commonality in hardware between various sub-systems of AEW&C providing better inventory management facility to the user. CABS has also evolved the most suitable form factor for all LRUs taking into account the space constraints of the aircraft. Packaging of the sub-system units has also been done accordingly. The design is based on the Ku-band transponder of geostationary satellite (GSAT-2), which has a footprint covering the main-land of the Indian subcontinent. The operational requirements include capability of air-to-ground communication with a data-rate of 64 kbps in full duplex mode including two voice channels. Copyright@DRDO Technology Focus.

For full report,click the following link below:
http://www.drdo.com/pub/techfocus/2010/jun10.pdf