An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne platform designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the battle-space in aerial engagements by informing and directing friendly fighter and attack aircraft. AEW&C units are also used to carry out aerial surveillance over ground and maritime targets, and frequently perform battle management command and control (BMC2).
Compared to the ground-based radars, the altitude allows much deeper surveillance of adversary territory. The aircraft mobility and extended sensor range combine to not only increase the total area of coverage, but also reduce the vulnerability of the platform from counter-attacks. AEW&C aircraft are used for both defensive and offensive air operations. Major navies, such as the United States Navy, have aircraft carrier-based AEW&C such as the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, which is assigned to its super-carriers. AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) is the name of the specific system installed in the E-3 and Japanese Boeing E-767 AEW&C airframes, but is often used as a general synonym for AEW&C. Clearly, the AEW&C is a very important combat support system and force multiplier.
Modern AEW&C
Modern AEW&C systems can detect aircraft from up to 400 km away, well out of range of most surface-to-air missiles. A typical AEW&C aircraft flying at 9,000 m (30,000 ft) can cover an area of 312,000 sq.km. Three such aircraft in overlapping orbits can cover the whole of Central Europe, or most of the relevant parts of the Himalayas.
An AEW&C system can transfer data directly to the ground or other platforms to help them improve their situational awareness. They will indicate close and far proximity range on threats and targets, help extend the range of fighting platforms and their sensors, and make offensive aircraft harder to track by reducing the need for them to keep their own radar active, which the enemy can detect. Systems also communicate with friendly aircraft, vectoring fighters towards hostile aircraft or any unidentified flying object.
AEW&C normally fly a race-course pattern to ideally cover the areas of tactical interest. The flight pattern can be changed based on tactical situation. Some AEW&C can be refuelled in the air. Sometimes fighter escorts support AEW&C for their air defence. There are proposals for future AEW&C that could be of flying-wing design and have some level of stealth capabilities. All AEW&C have ECM and other countermeasures. Future platforms may have self-defence aerial missiles or even directed energy weapons.
The AEW&C are threatened by what are often called the “AWACS killer missiles” with long ranges. China’s PL-17 or PL-20 have claimed range more than 400 km and are intended to target high value airborne assets (HVAA) such as tanker and early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.
Nowadays, countries have also started developing hypersonic air-to-air missiles using scramjet engines (such as R-37, or AIM-260 JATM), which not only increases efficiency for BVR battles, but it also greatly reduces the survival chances of target aircraft.
Current AEW&C systems
Many countries have developed their own AEW&C systems, although the Boeing E-3 Sentry, E-7A, Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye and Gulfstream/IAI EL/W-2085 are the most common systems worldwide. Boeing produces a specific system with a “rotodome” (rotating radome) that incorporates Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) radar. It is mounted on either the E-3 Sentry aircraft (Boeing 707) or more recently the Boeing E-767 (Boeing 767), the latter only being used by the Japan Air Self-Defence Force.
The Russian Aerospace Forces are currently using approximately Beriev A-50 and A-50U “Shmel” in the AEW role. The “Mainstay” is based on the Ilyushin Il-76 airframe, with a large non-rotating disk radome on the rear fuselage. The A-50 and A-50U will eventually be replaced by the Beriev A-100, which features an AESA array in the radome and is based on the updated Il-476.
The EL/W-2085 is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) multi-band radar system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and its subsidiary Elta Systems of Israel. Its primary objective is to provide intelligence to maintain air superiority and conduct surveillance. The system is currently in service with Israel, Italy, and Singapore. Instead of using a rotodome, a moving beam radar was found on some AEW&C aircraft, and the EL/W-2085 uses an active electronically scanned array (AESA) – an active phased array radar. This radar consists of an array of transmit/receive (T/R) modules that allow a beam to be electronically steered, making a physically rotating rotodome unnecessary.
ELTA was the first company to introduce an Active Electronically Scanned Array Airborne (AESA) Early Warning Aircraft and implement advanced mission aircraft using efficient, high-performance business jet platforms.
The Royal Australian Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force and the Turkish Air Force are deploying Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft. The Swedish Air Force uses the S 100D Argus ASC890 as its AEW platform. The S 100D Argus is based on the Saab 340 with an Ericsson Erieye PS-890 radar. Saab also offers the Bombardier Global 6000-based GlobalEye. The Hellenic Air Force, Brazilian Air Force and Mexican Air Force use the Embraer R-99 with an Ericsson Erieye PS-890 radar, as on the S 100D.
Israel has developed the IAI/Elta EL/M-2075 Phalcon system, which uses an AESA in lieu of a rotodome antenna. The system was the first such system to enter service. The original Phalcon was mounted on a Boeing 707 and developed for the Israeli Defence Forces and for export. Israel uses IAI EL/W-2085 airborne early warning and control multi-band radar system on Gulfstream G550; this platform is considered to be both more capable and less expensive to operate than the older Boeing 707-based Phalcon fleet.
AEW&C with India’s Neighbours
China has four KJ-2000 (IL-76 based), eleven Shaanxi KJ-200 (Y-8 based), 34 Shaanxi KJ-500 (Y-9 based). China’s Y-20 aircraft-based KJ-3000 is under testing and will soon induct with much greater range, endurance, and perhaps detection capability. China is also developing a carrier-based AEW&C, Xian KJ-600 (aboard Y-7) derived Xian JZY-01 test-bed.
Pakistan has been operating the Saab 2000 using the Erieye radar as its primary AEW&C platform since 2009. They have six of these. They also have four ZDK-03, a Chinese AESA radar mounted on a Y-8F-600 airframe (Antonov An-12), designated the “Karakoram Eagle”.
Indian AEW&C
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been operating three Israeli EL/W-2090 Phalcon radar mounted on Russian-origin Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft since May 2009. Also India has three DRDO ‘Netra’ (Embraer 145 ERJ based) since the beginning of February 2017. India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared six more DRDO AEW&C designated Netra-1A in October 2024. Since the 145 ERJ platform is no longer manufactured, DRDO and IAF are scouting their availability in secondary markets, while Embraer has also offered Praetor 600 aircraft for the same role. These six AEW&C aircraft will have 240-degree radar coverage, but there will be better software and more advanced technologies like new gallium nitride-based TR (transmit/receive) modules for the radars.
Earlier, DAC in September 2021 had cleared the acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the ₹11,000 crore (equivalent 1.4 billion in 2023) six Netra Mk 2 using pre-owned Airbus A321 platforms purchased from Air India. The A321s will be sent to France where they will be modified to military standards and then will be returned to DRDO where radars and surveillance suites will be fitted. The contract negotiations for the modifications of the aircraft were ongoing. Realistic timelines for India’s forthcoming AEW&C are 5–6 years from now, implying around 2030 or so.
The Netra Mk-2 will also have an antenna in the nose in addition to the main dorsal antenna to give 300-degree radar coverage. For the Netra Mk 2 project, Adani Defence & Aerospace has been designated as the L1 entity.
There is also a proposal for a 360-degree coverage AEW&C aircraft based on Airbus A330 airframe that will have a range of 400 km. On 19 July 2024, IAF issued an RFI to procure six AEW&CS and their respective ground support elements. The elements of the aircraft system would include a primary radar, electronic surveillance measures (ESM), communication support measures (CSM), command & control (C2), battle management system and networking through data links, IFF and self-protection electronic warfare suite. The primary radar is slated to have a 360° azimuth. The jet-engined aircraft is to have 8-hour endurance with aerial refuelling capabilities, cruise altitude of over 40,000 ft (12,000 m), cruise speed of above Mach 0.7 and a range of flying altitude from 500 ft (150 m) to 65,000 ft (20,000 m). It should be able to track large-bodied aircraft to slow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having a low radar cross section at ranges above 550 km. Vendors may either offer aircraft already customised as an AEW&CS or any aircraft meeting the requirements laid out by IAF, including a pre-owned aircraft. Meanwhile Indian Navy operates 14 Kamov Ka-31 Helix B helicopter-based AEW&C.
Major Global AEW&C Holding
Currently United States Air Force operates 32 Boeing E-3B/C Sentry, United States Navy has 55 Grumman E-2C-I/II Hawkeye. Russian Air Force has nine Beriev A-50. Egyptian Air Force operates eight Grumman E-2C Hawkeye. Royal Australian Air Force has six Boeing 737 AEW&C. Japan Air Self-Defence Force has 13 Grumman E-2C Hawkeye. NATO operates 14 Boeing E-3A. Royal Saudi Air Force has five Boeing E-3A. Swedish Air Force has six Saab S100B. There are many other countries with smaller holdings.
Land Area and Borders
China is the 3rd largest country with 9,706,961 sq.km area. Its land border is 22,457 kilometres long, making it the longest land border of any country. China shares its land border with 14 countries. Plus, it has a coastline of roughly 14,500 kilometres. China’s undisputed EEZ is 960,556 sq.km, but it has disputed claims with Taiwan and others in East and South China Sea and thus claims a total of 2,236,430 sq.km.
Pakistan is 34th in size with 881,912 sq.km. Its land border length is 6,774 kilometres. This includes 2,430 kilometres with Afghanistan, 523 kilometres with China, 909 kilometres with Iran, and 2,912 kilometres with India. Pakistan also has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Pakistan has an EEZ of 290,000 sq.km.
India is the world’s 7th largest country with 3,287,263 sq.km area. India’s border length is 15,200 kilometres of land and 7,516.6 kilometres of coastline, including island territories. This makes India’s border the third largest in the world, after China and Russia. India’s border includes 3,323 kilometres with Pakistan, 4,096 kilometres with Bangladesh, 3,488 kilometres with China, 1,751 kilometres with Nepal, 699 kilometres with Bhutan, 1,643 kilometres with Myanmar, and 106 kilometres with Afghanistan (disputed currently). India has an undisputed EEZ of 2,305,143 sq.km.
AEW&C Vis-à-vis Area and EEZ
China has around 50 AEW&C aircraft. That means one platform for 194,139 sq.km. Pakistan has around 10 AEW&C aircraft. That means one platform for 88,191 sq.km. India has 6 AEW&C aircraft. That means one platform for 547,877 sq.km. When it comes to EEZ, China has one AEW&C for 447,286 sq.km of EEZ. Pakistan has one for 29,000 sq.km, and India one for 384,190 sq.km. Clearly it is a much more adverse ratio than both China and Pakistan. Purely based on land area, and to match China, India needs 17 AEW&C and to match Pakistan by area, India needs 37 AEW&C. The numbers required for realistic operations are even more.
Way Ahead India
China and Pakistan are closest of allies and they both are serious adversaries of India with major land disputes and have been at war with India. The change in dispensation in Bangladesh has added another adversary for India. The Pakistan and Bangladesh militaries have already begun talking with each other and could develop closer relations. Collusion China and Pakistan has been talked of in India’s security establishment. Even if not full combat, they will exchange intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information. They could share AEW&C picture and data.
Considering the continental size of the country and the threat perception, the number of AEW&C currently with India are woefully inadequate. It is important to quickly reach a figure of 10 smaller and 10 larger AEW&C. At any given time, only about 80 percent will be available operationally. The requirement has been known for some time. The strategic importance and acquisition push has taken place only in the last 3–4 years. The Make-in-India approach is the correct one, but the process needs to be hastened. India has reasonably well mastered the electronics aspects of the AEW&C, but must also gain greater experience and ability to make structural changes to airframe. More money perhaps also needs to be put on the table. Time to act is now, lest it becomes late.
Note: The article was originally written by the Author for The EurAsian Times on, January 26th, 2025, it has since been updated.
Header Picture Credit: Author
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