India restarting AWACS program

Don’t know if anyone posted this yet, but there was a short article in last week’s issue of AW&ST.

Here are the highlights IIRC;

1) They said it was a mistake to mount their first effort, the rotodome, on the Avro HS-748 passenger jet instead of a transport plane like the IL-76.

2) CABs wishes to restart the program but with a mini-AWACS type of phased array radar (that is under development) to be mounted on a regional jet. If they had wanted a larger awacs, they would’ve gone for Boeing or foreign product.

3) They are seeking foreign assistance, and have already contacted an Israeli company (I forget the name) and are seeking a Russian one. They need help on integration, ECM (I think), and some other issues.

My memory’s a bit hazy, but I think that’s everything.