India is likely to close the multi-million defense deal with Israel to purchase the Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). With this $800 million defence deal, India would acquire two additional Phalcon AWACS aircraft from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Sources say, the Defence Ministry has already approved the deal and it is presently studied by Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry has objected to the high cost of the present deal and it was successful in reducing the cost through extensive negotiation with IAI.
The final approval is said to be granted by the Indian government’s Cabinet Committee on Security. Mounted on a Russian Ilyushin-76 heavy-lift aircraft, the system has Active Electronic Steering Array (AESA) and L-Band radar with 360° coverage and can detect and track incoming aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones before ground-based radars. India, Israel, and Russia inked $1.1 billion deal in 2004 and Indian Air Force received first three Phalcon AWACS in 2009.
Israel is one of the biggest suppliers of weapons systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to India in the last few years. The annual sales of military hardware of $1billion have made India one of its largest buyers. The purchase of 15 Harop attack drones is also in pipeline to enhance India’s unmanned warfare capabilities. The Harop combines the “capabilities of a UAV and a lethal missile.” India already has a number of the kamikaze Harop drones developed by IAI, purchasing 10 of them in September 2009 in a deal worth some $100m. Last week, India and IAI signed agreements worth $93million to provide former with the naval Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) systems that are able to shot down the enemy aircraft from a range of 50-70 kilometers. The MR-SAM system is jointly developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and IAI’s Elta, RAFAEL, and additional companies in both countries is used by Israel’s navy as well as by India’s naval, air and ground forces.
