Systems installation in the Ilyushin Il-76-based Israel Aircraft Industries(IAI)/Beriev airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft for the Chinese air force may be further delayed to around the end of 1999 to accommodate improvements discussed in a recent joint IAI/Beriev design review.
Elta, the IAI subsidiary responsible for the project, is already working on the subsystems for the Chinese aircraft, based on the company's Phalcon AEW system. The Israeli company has signed a $250 million agreement with China for a single Il-76 airframe with a phased array radar for validation purposes.
Elta is thought to have benefited from experience working with the Chilean air force's operational Phalcon in improving the performance of the phased array radar, which has already been demonstrated to the Chinese air force. Beriev is adding on a dorsal radome similar to that fitted to the Il-76-based Beriev A-50 (Mainstay) AEW aircraft used by the Russian air force, but the Chinese aircraft will have a fixed radome housing a triangular phased array radar antenna to give the system 360¼ coverage, rather than use a rotating radome to that of the A-50. The Chinese Il-76 will be equipped with electronic surveillance/electronic intelligence (ESM/ELINT) and communications intelligence (COMINT) systems similar to those installed in the IAI/Elta Phalcon sold to Chile, in addition to the phased array radar.
The Chinese require four AEW aircraft worth around $1 billion, but are limited to a purchase of only one because of budget problems. The aircraft may be tested against the rival GEC-Marconi Argus radar system, which is also intended for an Il-76 but has not yet been mated to an airframe. Talks with China continue over the issue, says UK-based GEC-Marconi.
Source: Flight International
