Test flights begin of Israeli Oron CAEW aircraft
Flight tests of the Oron CAEW have begun. (Photo: Israeli MoD)
Israel has begun test flights of its new Oron Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) ISR aircraft, the Israeli Ministry of Defence announced on 27 August.
In a recent ceremony attended by senior officials from the Israeli defence establishment, the MoD and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) celebrated the successful integration of intelligence systems into the Oron aircraft.
The MoD said in a statement that 'this achievement represents a significant milestone in the aircraft’s development and testing programme and the aircraft will now advance to the joint test flight phase conducted by the Israeli Air Force and IAI'.
The Oron was jointly developed by the MoD and IAI's Elta division together with the Israeli air force, intelligence service and navy.
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The system is based on a Gulfstream G550 adapted for AEW&C, EW and ISTAR missions. The original Israeli platform was designated G550 CAEW Eitam and Oron is an improved version of this system. The original is also in service with Australia, Italy, Singapore and the US.
The launch customer was the IAF, which ordered the first of three aircraft from Gulfstream in 2003, with IAI Elta as the prime contractor for the integration of its ELW-2085 AEW system. The first aircraft entered service with the IAF in 2006.
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