By Graham Warwick in Washington DC
Gulfstream is flight testing the first G550 business jet modified to become Israel’s compact airborne early warning (CAEW) platform. The aircraft will be delivered to Israel at the end of August for installation of an Elta Phalcon phased-array radar and mission system.
The US manufacturer received a $473 million contract in August 2003 to supply four G550s to the Israeli air force, plus options on two more which the company says were recently exercised. At least two of the G550s will be modified to the CAEW configuration, with the second scheduled to be delivered to Israel early next year.
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| The G550 has been modified to carry active radar arrays |
Gulfstream has modified the G550 to carry active radar arrays on the fuselage sides, nose and tail, to provide 360° coverage; increased the maximum zero-fuel weight; installed liquid cooling, racks and wiring for the mission system; and nearly tripled the electrical power by adding two more generators. A similar system is on offer to South Korea, in competition with a Boeing/Northrop Grumman proposal based on a modified 737 airliner.
Lockheed Martin was originally contracted to modify the G550, but after significant delays the work was taken back in-house by Gulfstream. The first AEW aircraft flew on 20 May at the company’s Savannah, Georgia plant, slightly behind the revised schedule, but the second will be delivered on time, it says.
Under a separate contract awarded in 2001, Gulfstream delivered a GV to Israel in May 2005 for modification into a special electronic mission aircraft carrying an Elta signals-intelligence system.
Source: Flight International
