Embraer plans to offer an airborne early-warning (AEW) variant of the EMB-145 regional jet following the Brazilian Government's decision to use the twinjet instead of the EMB-120 turboprop as the platform for the Ericsson Erieye phased-array radar under the SIVAM Amazon surveillance contract.
The Brazilian manufacturer is negotiating with SIVAM prime contractor Raytheon to supply eight EMB-145s: five AEW aircraft and three fitted with remote- sensing equipment.
Luis Carlos Affonso, Embraer engineering director, says that the EMB-145 was selected in preference to the EMB-120 because it offers increased altitude, range, speed and cabin volume.
Windtunnel testing of the EMB-145/Erieye design, with the antenna "canoe" above the fuselage, was completed in November.
The aircraft is also to be fitted with the uprated Allison AE3001 turbofan because of the resulting increased gross weight. Embraer is offering this modification to regional airlines for a long-range version of the aircraft.
Affonso says that Embraer expects to begin work on the SIVAM contract in March. The remote-sensing variant will have electronic and communications intelligence systems from Raytheon E-Systems.
Embraer is also proposing a VIP version of the aircraft to the Brazilian and Argentinian air forces. A demonstration has been conducted with one of the prototypes using VIP seats from a Brazilian air force EMB-120. The EMB-145 is being offered as a replacement for the Brazilian air force's early-model Raytheon Hawker business jets.
Source: Flight International
