By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israel is likely to acquire the biggest defense contract in its history following India’s interests to purchase another three Phalcon systems from the Jewish state, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.
The news of buying intention came four years after Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a deal of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars with India to supply its air force with three Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), which were to be built on Russian Ilyushin-76 airplanes, the report said.
According to the report, the Indian Defense Ministry is currently holding internal debates over the possibility of purchasing another three aircraft and the new deal would involve the same configuration as the one in 2004.
The first of the planes under the 2004 deal is currently undergoing flight tests in Russia and scheduled to be supplied by September, while the other two aircraft are set to be supplied in 2009 and 2010, said the report.
If India orders three new platforms, their delivery would most likely begin in the next decade, with the price possibly ranging from 300 million to 400 million dollars per aircraft.
The Phalcon, phased array L-band conformal radar, was designed and manufactured by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems Group, including radar, electronic intelligence systems and communication equipment.
The all-weather system, capable of logging 60 targets simultaneously and has a range of up to 400 km, can detect aerial threats and serve as a platform to direct combat jets.