Bureaucratic syndrome holds back India’s AEW&Cs

India’s delayed quest for procuring critical airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems has continued as neighbours and rivals China and Pakistan surpass its capabilities.

China has at least 60 fixed-wing AEW&Cs while Pakistan presently has nine Saab 2000 Erieye. Its four Chinese-built AEW&Cs ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle are believed to be undergoing a mid-life upgrade and overhaul in Chengdu, China, according to PakDefense.

The Indian Air Force (IAF), meanwhile, requires 18 AEW&Cs. India, however, is far behind its neighbours, with a small fleet that includes three Israeli Phalcon AEW platforms mounted on ageing Il-76 airframes. It has an additional three Netra (eyes) Mk1 AEW&Cs mounted on Embraer ERJ 145s delivered in 2012 and one aircraft which sits with the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), a laboratory of the Indian Department of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for testing and design.

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In July this year, the Indian Ministry of Defence released a Request for Information (RfI) for six AEW&Cs (MK1A) on Embraer ERJ-145s. Acknowledging the urgency to add AEW&Cs to the fleet by calling them “force multipliers”, Air Chief Marshall Amar Preet Singh told Shephard that procurement was expected to be cleared soon by the Defence Acquisition Council for the slightly upgraded MK1A over the Mk1.

“The idea is to buy the aircraft from Embraer, and modified by DRDO–CABS,” Singh said. “It is a proven design [in service] with minimum risk involved and maximum output.”

It remained unclear whether a pending project to convert five of six A321s bought from Air India for US$23 million each would be undertaken, with the aircraft parked at Hindon Air Force Station, and the remaining aircraft sitting in Bengaluru for more than two years. These would be converted to AEW&C Mk2 with DRDO–CABS-developed mission systems.

Regarding the cause for the delay, Singh said contract negotiations were on with the OEM Airbus for modifications to the aircraft when asked by Shephard.

Shephard has learned that in July 2024, Airbus quoted its final offer to CABS which remained higher than the cost DRDO had estimated. The heightened cost was due to complex modifications required on the tail under the fuselage for the additional rudder to be fitted so as not to affect longitudinal stability.

DRDO will now be required to revisit its underestimated cost for approval by the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS). Shephard’s query to Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury during a recent visit to India did not prompt a clear answer.

DRDO’s Development cum Production Partner (DcPP) model introduced in 2021 to work with the private industry to implement its technology projects, has already been selected for the A321 AEW&Cs. Shephard learned from a senior official without confirmation that it was most likely Adani Group was selected.

With different sizes in its inventory, India could possibly be looking at China’s strategy to adapt its AEW&C fleet to regional and border military operations using a layered set of aerial electronic warfare capabilities.

An RfI was released in late September to procure six AEW&C systems that require 360° coverage and air-to-air refuelling, with an endurance of a minimum of eight hours, indicating the need for a larger aircraft than the A321.

Having learnt from lessons of the past, there remained flexibility in the project which would allow for domestic and foreign technologies with the underlying ‘Make in India’ initiative. It is not clear, however, if this will be the Mk2A version. It is likely India will return to the A330 as it had 21 years ago for which CABS had designed a 360° radar system to fit on six Airbus A330s for a programme approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security in 2013.

The A330 project was to be completed by 2021 by CABS working along with Airbus Defence & Space the sole bidder for the programme. These were to complement and share commonality with the A330 MRTT, for which bids were released and then cancelled in 2016. Plans were put aside for the A330 AWECs last year, citing high aircraft acquisition costs.

“This is becoming a joke, a defence official commented. “Imagine how much money has been lost with the depreciation of the rupee. Vendors spend an astronomical sum on bids and rebids. They will soon lose interest and the IAF will be back to square one.”

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