India and Israel flock together

India gets first Awacs from Israel


Monday, May 25, 2009

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: India has got the first of the three Israeli airborne early warning command and control systems (Awacs) and the two remaining systems will be provided in next two years, becoming the first country in South Asia to have advanced Awacs, an Israeli paper reported on Sunday.

It is being considered the most advanced Awac system as the Phalcon provides tactical surveillance of airborne and surface targets, and the gathering of signal intelligence, the paper said. It is capable of tracking fighter planes, missiles and ground forces at a distance of 400 kilometers in any weather conditions.The system can identify all types of aircraft and was programmed to differentiate between friend and foe. The delivery of the long-range, high-performance and multi-sensor Phalcon system is part of a 1.1 billion dollar deal signed between India, Russia and Israel in January 2004.

As part of the delivery, IAI mounted the Phalcon systems on IL-76 aircraft supplied by Russia. Delivery of the last two Phalcon systems to India is slated for 2010. Ahead of the negotiations for the sale of the Phalcons to India, Israel obtained a green light from the United States for the transfer of incorporated American technology.

Israeli caution was borne of bitter experience, after a previous deal with China for the purchase of the Phalcon system was nixed by the US. As a result, Israel- China relations suffered a harsh blow and Israel was forced to compensate China to the tune of 375 million dollars.

Over the past several years, Israel has sold more than one billion dollars worth of defense systems to India on an annual basis. This has made India Israel’s leading customer in the global military supply market. Sales have included hardware and software, missiles for the Indian navy, as well as anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems based on the Green Pine radar.

The Green Pine, designed by Israel Aerospace Industries, is a transportable radar system designed to track dozens of ballistic missiles from long-ranges and in all weather conditions. In addition, Israel´s military industry firm has announced that it will establish five factories in India for the production of artillery shells.

The project is said to be worth 240 million dollars. In other fields related to defense, Israel and India have collaborated in military and aerospace research and development. In January 2008, for example, the Israel Space Agency and India´s Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched an Israeli-made spy satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in southeastern India.

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