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'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...

The Boeing Company today announced that the Commonwealth of Australia has accepted the first two Project Wedgetail 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fleet. The aircraft were accepted during a ceremony today at RAAF Base Williamtown, the main operating base for the Wedgetail fleet. "This major milestone demonstrates that the 737 AEW&C system is ready for operational training and use. It also represents the culmination of years of design, development, modification and testing by the Boeing-led team to bring this complex system -- the first of its type -- to our...

IAI loses $1.5b South Korea AWACS tender IAI unit Elta Systems was disqualified because it lacked US export licenses for key systems. Ron Paz 3 Aug 06 17:27 Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. (IAI) and its Elta Systems Group subsidiary have suffered a heavy blow. The South Korean Ministry of Defense has disqualified Elta’s proposal to supply four AWACS plans, worth $1.5 billion. The decision leaves Boeing (NYSE:BA) as the sole proposal in the tender, and brings to an end the year-long prestigious head-to-head confrontation. The decision was taken during a meeting of the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA)...

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...