India is all set to acquire EL/M-2083 Aerostat radars from Israel to detect and track hostile low-flying aircraft, helicopters, spy drones and missiles.
The EL/M-2083 is an aerostat-mounted air search radar. Another system of this kind is the Tethered Aerostat Radar System. It is an early warning and control phased array radar designed to detect hostile approaching aircraft from long ranges, especially when they approach at low altitudes. Data gathered by the radar is transmitted to a central air defense command & control center where it is used to maintain an extended comprehensive air situation picture.
Once a potential threat has been detected the onboard system alerts responders in a timely manner. It is based on the EL/M-2080.
India will also receive the first of the PHALCON AWACS from Israel by February 2008. Both AWACS and Aerostat radars (phased-array radars mounted on blimp-like balloons tethered to ground) act as "eyes in the skies" since they can detect air intrusions much earlier than ground-based radars.
'Times of India' further reports:
The four more Aerostat radars is a follow-on order to the successful deployment of the two EL/M-2083 Aerostat radars, inducted from Israel in 2004-2005, along the border in Kutch region and Punjab. In all, IAF has projected a requirement of 13 Aerostat radars, with each one capable of providing three-dimensional low-altitude coverage equal to 30-40 ground-based radars. Incidentally, Pakistan too is acquiring six Aerostat L-88 radar systems from the US in an estimated $155-million deal.
IAF, on its part, also plans to acquire a wide array of LLTRs (low-level transportable radars), LLLWRs (low-level light weight radars), CARs (central acquisition radars) and SARs (synthetic aperture radars) over the next five years to improve its air defence capabilities. Most of these requirements are being sourced from Israel, which has emerged as India