According to Hindustan Times website, in a move to bolster the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) surveillance capabilities, the Indian government is in the final stage of approving two A-50EI airborne early warning platforms that are equipped with the Israeli EL/W-2090 radar.

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IAF Beriev A-50EI Mainstay AWACS aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport with Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 engines, with Israeli EL/W-2090 radar made for the Indian Air Force. (Picture source: Wikipedia)

The PHALCON radar is going to cost about $1 billion with another $1 billion going towards the purchase of the platform, in this case, Russian A-50 aircraft. The radar and the platform will be integrated in Israel. It will take about two to three years for the delivery of the complete system.

India’s current possession of AWACS consists of three Phalcon AWACS, with a 400-km range and 360-degree coverage, and two indigenous “Netra” AEW&C aircraft, with indigenous 240-degree coverage radars with a 250-km range fitted on smaller Brazilian Embraer-145 jets.

A-50EI is based on the Beriev A-50 AEW&C platform, operated by the Russian Air Force, but equipped with EL/W-2090 Phalcon radar system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and its Elta subsidiary. The platform is based on the Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft.

The EL/W-2090, which is a further development of IAI’s EL/M-2075 and EL/W-2085 radars, uses the active electronically scanned array (AESA)/ active phased array. This radar consists of an array transmit/receive (T/R) modules that allow a beam to be electronically steered, making a physically rotating rotodome unnecessary. AESA radars operate on a pseudorandom set of frequencies and also have very short scanning rates, which makes them difficult to detect and jam.