India joined an elite club of nations on Thursday when it inducted the first of the three AWACS systems that will help the air force detect incoming missiles and enemy aircraft that may take off from across the border.
Expected to substantially enhance India's capability to keep an eye on enemy activities in air, land and the sea, the AWACS bought from Israel was formally handed over to the IAF's newly-formed Agra-based 50 Squadron at a brief ceremony in New Delhi.
Symbolically, Defence Minister A K Antony handed over a key to Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major at the Palam air base in New Delhi. "This is a historic day for both the Air Force and the country that will enhance the national security apparatus. AWACS have been a long-standing operational requirement and much-needed for the IAF's modernisation process," Antony told a gathering of diplomats, bureaucrats and IAF officers at the induction ceremony in New Delhi.
AWACS is described as "an eye in the sky" because of its capability to carry out surveillance at about 400-km range under all-weather situation and to lock on to 60 targets simultaneously has a 360-degree phased array radar mounted on to the heavylift IL-76 transport aircraft airframe and would provide the much-required battlespace situational awareness for the IAF for its tactical and strategic operations.
So far, only the US, Russia, Israel, China, United Kingdom, France and Australia have the system operational in their air forces, and its induction has propelled IAF into that major league. "The AWACS induction has increased the IAF's response system and we had foreseen that future air operations will be conducted at a very high tempo and this requires real-time control of our combat assets.
"A potent force multiplier, it will enable robust decision-making cycle of the air force. It will be a vital component of IAF's combat potential," Major said at the ceremony. Major said being the first of the three AWACS, India had bought from Israel in a USD 1.1 billion deal in 2004, its operations will help the IAF in assessing future requirements of the system to cover the vast expanse of the country. "We are using this asset for the first time and it will take us a while before we know how many more we require. But seeing the expanse of our country we will need more of these," he said during a media interaction. The AWACS would also be an important part of IAF's future communication network, providing direct data link to both airborne and static assets on the ground, he said.
