A320 based AEW&C “Netra Mk2” will have more range and better tracking capabilities: CABS

The Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) in charge of developing Six Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) based on the A320 platform that was previously owned by the National Carrier of India, Air India will be equipped with a scaled-up variant of the Active ElectronicallyScanned Array (AESA) that was previously used on the Netra Mk1 AEW&C based on the ERJ 145 platform. idrw.org has been informed that the scan range and tracking capabilities of the AESA radar bound for the Netra Mk2 will be more than double what is on the Netra Mk1. AESA radar has built-in scalability that makes it possible to tailor it as per platform and since the A320 is a bigger platform than ERJ 145, radar can be packed with more transmit and receive (TR) module and more power can be derived from the bigger engines from A320 to meet additional power requirement of the scaled-up radar . Air India will be transferring six A320/321 aircraft to Indian Air Force soon and it will send to Europen OEM for refitments. CABS has said that all six Netra Mk2 will be handed over to IAF in the next six to seven years period. Netra Mk2 will also provide more than 240° coverage, but CABS refuses to confirm this to idrw.org at this point, but 270° or 300° coverage is expected from Netra Mk2. In Dec 2020, India’s MoD okayed the development of 6 new AWACS planes to be built by the DRDO with the cost of 10,994 crores, to be based on modified Airbus A320 jets sourced from Air India. NOTE : Article cannot be reproduced without written permission of idrw.org in any form even for YouTube Videos to avoid Copyright strikes