India's first indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system based on a fully-modified Embraer aircraft has reached Bangalore from Brazil, ahead of integration of DRDO-developed mission systems and flight trials. The AEW&C platform landed at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) late Wednesday night, 22 Aug 2012, at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bangalore, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) release said.
"The aircraft and its crew from IAF and the Brazilian plane manufacturer Embraer were given a hearty welcome with water cannons," the DRDO release said.
IAF's Embraer AEW&C Aircraft taking off ( Image Courtesy - bharat-rakshak.com )
The indigenous AEW&C will enable the nation to deploy an alternative electronic eye in the sky, in addition to the three Il-76 based Phalcon radars the Indian Air Force (IAF) operates.
"The arrival of this aircraft marks the beginning of another phase of journey leading to the next major milestone of integration of the DRDO developed mission system, which will be followed by development flight trials in India beginning of 2013," the release said.
This is the first of the three aircraft delivered by Embraer for which the contract was signed in 2008. The next plane in the series is expected to arrive in India in December.
News Courtesy - newstrackindia.com
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