A330 AWACS
 

AW&ST:

"India is to equip two Airbus A330s with an indigenously developed airborne early warning and control system, with eventual plans for six aircraft budgeted at 5 billion rupees ($840 million). Boeing did not bid. Airbus will design and certify a 10-meter dia. (33-ft.) radome to house the electronically scanned radar."

Whacko...get ready for the fun. And it should be a long-running show.

Does it have a Pulse Dopiaza radar?

A330
 

I guess our foreign aid budget will finance it as well !!!!!!.

Back in 1997, Airbus Industrie was developing an AEW&C version of the A310 with Raytheon E-Systems and ELTA Electronics Industries Ltd, who would have supplied the electronically scanned array radar. It was planned to have mission duration of over 11 hours:

not an "R1" version as well was there?

Why bother, they can have ours in a few months after the next Government's SDSR. If Milibland gets in they can probably have a few Trident missiles and subs as well (provided Mrs Sturgeon and her Salmon boss approve).

Spending lots of money on this project will at least give those living in slums and having an open street sewer for a toilet something to look up and marvel at as it flies overhead as they're parking their breakfast.

One wonders whether they will run the crew hierarchy on the Caste system (much like the USAF crew).

The airframe certainly has the real estate to accommodate a number of systems. The MRTT could also be further developed for limited AW&C - making it truly Multi-Role. However, I suspect there will be a trade-off between endurance/fuel load and ZFW, an A330 AWACS version may carry a maximum of around 80,000Kgs. That would give it a max unrefuelled flight time of around 12 hours, which seems pretty reasonable.

Had a look around a newly completed Japanese E-767 at Boeing Field once.. the amount of unused space inside is staggering.. even with the mission consoles set 4 abreast. Humongous flight deck as well. The wide-body configuration of the 767 offers 50% more floor space and nearly twice the volume of the 707.

SV - more room to bring back red wine from deployments then!

I'm sure it'll be a great platform for a radar. A bit big maybe? It'll certainly be able to stay on station as long as anything. I'm also sure that contractually it'll be a big bunfight. On my last Indian trip we shared a hotel with some BAe engineers who had been there four days without receiving the passes to allow them onto base to start fixing their aircraft.

I'm sure it'll be a great platform for a radar. A bit big maybe? It'll certainly be able to stay on station as long as anything. I'm also sure that contractually it'll be a big bunfight. On my last Indian trip we shared a hotel with some BAe engineers who had been there four days without receiving the passes to allow them onto base to start fixing their aircraft.


It was ever thus as their national 'flair' for bureaucracy is simply staggering.

That's because they hadn't finished screwing it back together ...:E

More room yes - but still not quite enough!:E

Oh yes indeed plus a large dollop of manyana.

Why is racist *** like this allowed in this forum?

India is a the one biggest buyer of military equipment, money that will help pay for the UK forces. Too many of the recipients of UK taxpayers funds seem all to keen to insult the source of those funds, I wish you would grow up.

I cannot see anything racist in pointing out the vast majority of the populace live in abject poverty and squalor, while the country choses to spend vast amounts of money in enlarging their defence and space budgets, something that will never lift them out of being a third world country.

Lately? 17 Hawks, and err, not much else.

The vast majority of military imports are American or Russian. They have also taken to manufacturing their own stuff, dashed cheek if you ask me.