Podcast: Indian Air Force’s AWACS Crisis

The Indian Air Force desperately needs modern AWACS aircraft in large numbers, but it has inducted only three Netra Mk1 jets in the past decade, leaving major gaps in its long-range aerial surveillance capability. Armchair Perspectives looks at India's AWACS journey and how it plans to shore up the numbers in the coming decade.

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The Indian Air Force is woefully short of modern airborne early warning and control aircraft, popularly known as AWACS, with the number of aircraft in its fleet lagging behind both China and Pakistan.

AWACS aircraft are significant force multipliers for any air force. They serve as the Air Force's eyes in the sky, serving as airborne command centres during combat operations and detecting enemy fighters and approaching missiles much more accurately than ground-based radar stations.

India acquired three Phalcon AWACS systems in 2004 and in the next two decades, could induct just three more Netra Mk1 systems mounted on Embraer ERJ-145 jets. The jets are fast and have mid-air refuelling capability, but only provide 240 degrees of coverage over a distance of 300 kilometres.

IAF has placed orders for six new Netra Mk2 systems mounted on Airbus 321 aircraft, but it could take another decade before the AWACS systems are tested, validated, integrated and test-flown on the new aircraft, leaving the IAF extremely vulnerable during the next crisis.

In this podcast, Armchair Perspectives traces the development of the Netra AWACS aircraft, covers the delays that pushed back the aircraft's induction into the Indian Air Force, and looks at the IAF's long-term AWACS acquisition plans and the DRDO's capability to meet the rising challenge amidst recurring failures.

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