Indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) aircraft of Indian Air Force today conducted its first air-to-air refuelling successfully. (ANI image)

Indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) aircraft of Indian Air Force today conducted its first air-to-air refuelling successfully. This comes after the first indigenous AEW&C in IOC configuration was handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF), in February during Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka Airbase in Bengaluru. The Airborne Surveillance System is a game changer in air warfare. The AEW&C System is a system of systems populated with state-of-the art Active Electronically Scanned Radar, Secondary Surveillance Radar, Electronic and Communication Counter Measures, LOS (Line of Sight) and beyond LOS data link, voice communication system and self protection suite, built on an Emb-145 platform, having an air-to-air refueling capability to enhance surveillance time. A Complex tactical software has been developed for fusion of information from the sensors, to provide the current air situation picture along with intelligence to handle identification/classification threat assessment to authorities here. Battle management functions are built in-house to work as a network centric system of Integrated Air Command & Control System (IACCS) node.

This system was developed and evaluated through collaborative efforts between DRDO and the IAF, with coordination for certification clearance and quality assurance by CEMILAC and DGAQA. The AEW&C system has undergone all weather and environmental trials and has been accepted by the IAF for induction.

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#WATCH An Indian Air Force Embraer transport aircraft specialized to conduct Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) function, successfully carried out Air to Air Refueling (AAR), pic.twitter.com/GFK0H2iGCV — ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2017

AWACS is capable of operating as an Airborne Command & Control Centre for conducting offensive and defensive air operations. Meanwhile, in another proud moment for Indians, the manufacturing facility of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) producing Sukhoi fighter jets can be used to build the fifth-generation fighter aircraft if the government decides to go ahead with the proposed Indo-Russian joint venture, T Suvarna Raju, the chief of the aerospace behemoth, has said.

Raju said the state-of-the-art facility in Nasik will not require any major investment to reconfigure it to produce the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA). He said there was much in common between the FGFA and the Sukhoi 30MKI jet as both had structural similarities and the plant was well equipped to produce the new generation stealth fighter for which India and Russia have been in negotiations for nearly a decade.