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Possible Naval AEW&C Bird for China Here’s what might be further evidence of China’s quickly evolving efforts to field an aircraft carrier with a full on and modern air wing; grainy pictures of what’s possibly a Chinese E-2 Hawkeye style airborne early warning bird. Maybe they won’t be able to operate off China’s Shi Lang carrier, which uses a ski-ramp rather than catapults to launch jets but it could still support and protect the carrier and its battle group in the same way as the U.S. E-2s currently do. It’s one more sign that China is getting serious about fielding...

Sweden to deliver an early warning air-borne system to UAE in April Haseeb Haider 16 March 2011 ABU DHABI — Sweden’s Saab Group, one of the leading global defence contractors, will deliver to the UAE next month the second of the two Erieye long range Airborne Early Warning & Control systems. “The Swedish firm won a deal in November 2009, to sell two latest early warning systems to the UAE,” to beef up its ariel and on land surveillance, Magnus Scholdtz, Sweden Ambassador said. Speaking to reporters on the occasion of opening of the Middle East’s largest IKEA store on...

EMBRAER UNVEILS THE NEW EMB 145 AEW&C PLATFORM DEVELOPED FOR THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT It is the first of three aircraft that will incorporate the DRDO-developed surveillance equipment São José dos Campos, February 21, 2011 – Embraer presented the first of three EMB 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platforms, today, to representatives of the Indian government at a ceremony held at its headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil. Based on the proven Embraer ERJ 145 regional jet, the aircraft features an in-flight refueling system, SATCOM capability, a significant increase in electrical and cooling capacities, and a comprehensive set...

E-2D Begins Carrier Suitability Testing Aboard CVN 75 (Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued February 1, 2011) NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, Patuxent River, MD –-- The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the Navy’s newest airborne early warning and command and control aircraft, began Carrier Suitability Testing aboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) today to assess its effectiveness in an operational environment. During this test phase, all aspects of aviation/ship integration are addressed, including logistics, manpower and interoperability, as well as catapult and arrested landing structural tests. Aircraft 501, flight test team and pilots assigned to the Air Test and...

Wedgetail's Radar -- What Was Wrong and What Fixed It Posted by David A. Fulghum at 2/2/2011 3:01 AM CST Australia’s new airborne early warning and control aircraft has arrived, but it is at least four years late. The Australian military was stunned in 2006 to discover that the Wedgetail’s large, futuristic, long-range radar still had both hardware and software problems. The first problem involved the “end-fire” portion of the radar that provides the fore and aft segment of its 360 degree coverage. A long, hollow chamber atop the radar had been carefully shaped to deflect a portion of the...

Pakistan bridges technology gap with India Gautam Datt Express News Service First Published : 30 Jan 2011 NEWDELHI: In 2009 when the first of the three Russian-Israeli spy planes arrived in New Delhi, it was viewed as the Indian Air Force’s big technological leap leaving adeversaries like Pakistan behind. Two years down the line, Pakistan has knocked much of this technology gap off with help from China by adding planes that can peep inside Indian border and thwart aerial strikes. IAF bosses now admit that it was time to redraw its plans regarding acquistion of more Airborne Early Warning and...

'Chinese AWACS will revolutionise air defence' Rezaul H Laskar Islamabad, Nov 21 (PTI) The induction of Chinese-made airborne warning and control system aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force beginning next year will bring about a "revolution" in air defence operations, the air force chief said today. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, currently on a visit to China, told state-run APP news agency that his force has plans to induct four Shaanxi ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft in its inventory. Suleman recently attended the roll out ceremony in Hanzhong for the first ZDK-03 aircraft designed specifically for PAF. He said countries without...

China’s Eyes in the Skies The PLA is in the process of creating an almost impregnable air defence system for China. Washington should take note. The recent deployment of China's first four indigenous KJ-2000 AWACS aircraft marks an important milestone in the PLA Air Force’s long march from being a ‘numbers intensive’ low technology force, to a much more modern high technology one. More fundamentally, though, the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) extends China's deep and broad network of air defence Command Control Communications Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems into a key airborne area. In doing so, China is...

PICTURES: Royal Navy offered AEW-configured AW101 By Craig Hoyle AgustaWestland and Thales have stepped up their efforts to promote a development of the AW101 to replace the UK Royal Navy's venerable Sea King 7 airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) aircraft. As the incumbent suppliers of the RN's organic airborne early warning capability, the companies have joined forces to offer the AW101 Merlin equipped with Thales's Searchwater 2000 radar and Cerberus mission system. The RN's current 11 Sea King ASaC helicopters are due to be retired from use in 2016, and a new type is needed to operate from its two...

Low-Cost and Effective AEW Systems Find Buyers Feb 13, 2008 Bill Sweetman/Defense Technology International Airborne early warning and control (AEWC) has a reputation for being tricky and expensive. Boeing's 737 AEW aircraft for Australia, Turkey and South Korea -- one of the biggest U.S. export-only defense programs -- has run behind schedule and cost Boeing more than $1 billion in charges. The U.S. Air Force AWACS fleet -- described in 2006 as "falling apart" -- is finally budgeted for much-needed upgrades. Two systems now on the global market, however, are a step forward in affordability, and are making sales in...

US willing to offer India advanced Hawkeye-2D spy plane 17 Dec 2007, 1319 hrs IST, IANS NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: The US is willing to offer its most advanced maritime spy plane, the advanced Hawkeye-2D, to India. According to a report in the forthcoming issue of India Strategic defence magazine, the Indian Navy had issued an RFI (Request for Information) for the aircraft to the US government some time back. Although Washington is yet to release this aircraft for export "it could be sold to countries like India, Egypt, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)", the report added. The aircraft is...

Malaysia to launch contest for airborne early warning fleet By Vladimir Karnozov Malaysia could issue a request for proposals for four airborne early warning and control system aircraft in mid-2008, with funds for the acquisition likely to become available during the nation's next five-year spending plan. The Royal Malaysian Air Force has indicated a tentative requirement for a relatively lightweight, low-cost system to improve the situational awareness of its Boeing F/A-18D, RSK MiG-29N and Sukhoi Su-30MKM pilots. The surveillance aircraft should also be capable of monitoring naval vessels, it says, especially in the Malacca Straits. Candidate systems will include Northrop...

Navy eyeing U.S. airborne early warning aircraft By Rasheed Kappan BANGALORE, FEB. 10. Keen on acquiring six all-weather Hawkeye E-2C Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, the Navy has invited next week the United States defence firm Northrop Grumman, aircraft manufacturer, for initial aircraft carrier compatibility assessment. The Navy is looking at equipping the carrier Gorshkov (INS Vikramaditya) with the E-2C. The U.S. Government has issued Grumman the licence to open technical discussions with the Navy for sale of the aircraft. The U.S. has also provided the necessary "price and availability" document to go ahead with the talks, a...