Oh Jerusalem

An acronym for Phased Array L-Band Conformal radar, the Phalcon is considered the world’s most advanced airborne early warning command and control system. It Supersedes conventional rotodome radars, currently used by most AWACS systems.

The Phalcon has several panels of phased radiating elements. These are mounted on the fuselage of an aircraft and provide 360 degree coverage. The Phalcon is based on four sensors: phased-array radar; phased-array IFF (identification of friend or foe); ESM/ELINT (electronic surveillance or electronic intelligence); CSM/COMINT (communication surveillance or computer intelligence).

A unique fusion technology continuously cross-relates the data gathered by all sensors. When one of the sensors reports a detection, the system automatically initiates an active search on the other three.

The radar can detect even low flying objects from distances of upto 400 km, day and night, under all weather conditions. Not just that, the system also generates verification beams at newly detected targets to eliminate false alarms. The tracking is initiated in two to four seconds as compared to 20 to 40 seconds in the case of a rotodome radar.

The Phalcon makes real-time decisions an almost absolute reality. It can be zeroed in on a specific battlezone to provide inputs on enemy movement, be it on air, sea or ground. This creates possibilities of shaping the battlefield dynamics. In conflicts like Kargil (1999), the Phalcon would have been a killer application.

India has chosen to mount the system on Il-76 D aircraft. While the body will be bought from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, the engines will be from Russia. On arrival, it will be fitted with Phalcon-compatible Israeli avionics. Since this will entail the sharing of the blueprint of the Ilyushin aircraft with Israel, Russia has objected.

Moscow’s alarm may have another trigger too. With the Phalcon deal, Israel is second only to Russia in terms of supplying India military hardware. There is a pattern to growing Indo-Israeli defence cooperation. Whatever America can’t sell India directly—due to domestic or Pakistani objections—is now simply routed through Israel.

Though some sources insist the Indian army’s 160 mm mortars were actually bought from the Israelis in the 1970s, a serious—and official—defence relationship was forged only in 1992. That year senior Indian defence ministry officials travelled to Switzerland to look at unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The UAV demonstration was, it turned out, being conducted by an Israeli team.

The Indian contingent advised the Israelis to negotiate directly and avoid the third party route. This would be mutually profitable, especially since New Delhi was on the verge of opening full diplomatic ties Tel Aviv.

Even so, the real boost to the military relationship came only after the Kargil war. In 2001, India and Israel formed a joint working group on defence. Defence deals, till then a hush-hush affair, received a degree of formalisation. India was in the market for advanced surveillance equipment and an anti-ballistic missile defence system against Pakistan’s short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Israel also supplied the Indian Navy the Barak anti-missile system.

While a range of small arms and surveillance equipment—from sensors to night-vision devices—were bought from Israel as part of cooperation on counter-terrorism, the turning point came when Washington agreed to India’s procurement of Israeli UAVs Heron and Searcher.

The Phalcon is only the latest symbol of the America-Israel-India axis. It is understood that the Phalcon can be integrated with the Green Pine radar system, used in the US-Israeli Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile mechanism.

Interestingly, Tel Aviv has already provided the Green Pine radar system to India for R&D purposes. The Defence Research and Development Organisation is using it to build an indigenous anti-missile defence system. The Phalcon, then, will be among friends; as are, no doubt, India and Israel.