IAI: No comment on reported Phalcon deal with India

[H Khan]

By Marc Daugherty


(July 25) - Officials at Israel Aircraft Industries would not comment yesterday on reports that Israel has been negotiating the sale of two aircraft equipped with the Phalcon AWACS radar system to India.

Israel and India have reportedly stepped-up their defense cooperation. During Indian Foreign Minister Jasvant Singh's visit to Israel last year, the two countries decided to set up a joint forum for combating terrorism.

A Phalcon system Israel had contracted to supply China was the cause of tension last month with the US, which pressured Israel to cancel the sale to China saying it threatened the security of Taiwan.

The US had also objected to Israel's sale to India of the Green Pine ground-based radar used with the US-funded Arrow missile defense system. Ha'aretz reported yesterday that Israel had agreed to consult with the US before selling the radar to India.

The US had also expressed its concern over intended Israeli sales of Popeye air-to-ground missiles to India in light of the already tense situation in the Asian sub-continent. The highly accurate Popeye, manufactured jointly by Raphael and Lockheed Martin as the AGM-142, is already in use by the US Air Force's strategic B-52 bomber force. Nevertheless, Raphael spokesman Noach Shacham flatly denied that there was "ever any connection between the Popeye and India."

The Phalcon, one of the world's most advanced AWACS systems, can track up to 60 targets simultaneously over an 800 km.-wide circle to support both defensive and offensive operations.

[Awaisi]

Khan Saheb,

As per Israeli paper you quoted above: US has asked Israel to keep a low profile on its defence deals with Bhindia.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pa...ID=0&listSrc=Y

[hassany]

Russian airframes for IAF AWACS 'almost' ready
By Vladimir Radyuhin




MOSCOW, JAN. 17. Russia will shortly fulfil its part of a joint deal with Israel to supply three radar planes to India, an aircraft industry official said here.

``We are in the final stages of carrying out the contract to supply A-50 aircraft to the Israeli company, Eita Electronics Industries,'' Gennady Panatov, head of the Beriev aircraft manufacturer, said.

The Israeli company will equip the Russian airframes with the Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System(AWACS) before delivering them to India.

The Indian Air Force badly needs the AWACS planes to step up its aerial surveillance on the border with Pakistan.

``I hope the $1 billion deal will not be torpedoed as it happened in the case of a similar contract with China,'' Mr. Panatov said. Israel cancelled a contract to supply AWACS planes to China after it was vetoed by the United States.

The A-50 is a modernised Russian transport aircraft, Il-76, which has been equipped with a new engine and a radar casing fitted on top on the fuselage.

The plane can stay aloft without refuelling for six hours and has a maximum range of 1,800 km. Russia has also agreed to supply refuelling aircraft for the AWACS.

In 2000, India leased from Russia two A-50 planes equipped with Russian-built AWACS, but then opted for the Israeli-built Phalcon radar.

[hassany]

disregard the normal indian propoganda, but looking at the Phalcons capabilities, this will pose headaches for PAF

Major shift in US approach to India signalled

MANOJ JOSHI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2002 10:13:43 PM ]

EW DELHI: US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s nuanced remarks, defence minister George Fernandes’ visit to the US and the declared American support for the sale of the Israeli Phalcon aircraft signals a major shift in the US approach to India.

‘‘This is the same aircraft whose sale to China was blocked by US authorities,’’ says K. Santhanam, director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

Coming as the US approval does at a time when India and Pakistan are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the message to Islamabad, too, is clear. The US is abandoning its ‘‘zero-sum game’’ approach to South Asia, where an action in favour of one country was seen as a negative development by the other.

‘‘India is now being placed in a separate category, along with the UK, France, and Japan,’’ adds Santhanam. ‘‘Pakistan no longer has a veto on the development of Indo-US defence ties.’’

In the case of the Phalcon, Pakistan can’t complain too much since it does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Perhaps there is a message in there as well for Islamabad from Israel’s closest ally.

The Phalcon will tilt the adverse air balance against Pakistan even more severely. According to a description available in the Federation of American Scientists website, the aircraft is more capable than even the US E-3 (Sentry) AWACS. ‘‘This is because the Sentry is part of 1970s technology,’’ says a specialist.

The Phalcon Airborne Early Warning Command and Control system will be mounted on a Russian Il-76 transport and will enable the Indian Air Force to look deep into Pakistan. The reach of ground-based radars is limited and the first warning of low-flying aircraft comes through forward mobile radars, within a minute or so the aircraft is over Indian air space.

Flying at 30,000 feet, the Phalcon’s airborne radar will be able to detect aircraft flying as low as 200 metres over the ground 500 km away. Higher flying aircraft can be detected 1000 km and more.

This means that even as PAF aircraft take off even from remote air bases, they will be tracked and Indian fighters will be ready to deal with them as they enter Indian air space.

The Phalcon has systems to detect enemy radar and electronic support equipment with great precision for attacking aircraft. Third, the Phalcon has communications intelligence systems that can detect ground communications as well as those between ground controllers and ships and aircraft.

Systems such as the Phalcon are not easy to come by. Britain’s own Nimrod programme failed and it had to go in for the Sentry. The Chinese wanted to import the Israeli systems but have been foiled by the US. The Russian A-50 has been around since the 1970s, but they performed poorly in tests in north India in 2000. Now, the A-50 platform will be used to house the Phalcon electronics.

[Farooq]

I guess there's only one way of getting at them and thats as they are taking off or on the ground through covert specops action.

[M Ahmed]

Salam,

The Indian acquisition of the Phalcon AWACS is an ominous develpoment indeed.I wonder what will PAF do to counter IAF armed with 3 AWACS and other new aircraft plus an integrated SAM network comprising S-300Vs,ARROW ATBMs, and other SAM systems such as Trishul,Akash etc.

IMHO,special operations might be one of the solutions against a PHALCON,but the Chinese have developed an anti-AWACS SAM system,the FT-2000,and given that the Indian PHALCONS will be a potent threat to China,both Pak and China can develop some Electronic Warfare system (the Chinese are already heavily engaged in EW and ECM R&D),or build another AWACS system themselves,or acquire a similar system from some other source.The Russian system can be acquired by the Chinese as a stop gap arrangement till such time when the Chinese can make a system of their own.The Chinese need an AWACS as much as we do.Perhaps the AWACS threat from India now is as dangerous to our national security as was their nuclear programme in the 1960s and early 70s.

One other possible way to deal with the AWACS threat would be to drastically upgrade our own integrated SAM and ground based Airdefence network with state-of-the art tech and equally important is a high tech,highly versatile Electronic Warfare industry that can develop systems that can jam enemy communications and their radars,and AWACS is after all an airborne radar.

I propose that this topic be extensively discussed on the military and strategic forum,since it is has direct bearing on the PAF and our entire airdefence system.

Regards.