Airborne early warning and control (CAEW) aircraft with conformal placement of electronic equipment from Elta Systems, a subsidiary of IAI.
A Conformal Airborne Early Warning and Control (CAEW) aircraft with conformal placement of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) electronics was first introduced to the public at the 2008 Farnborough Air Show in the UK … The general contractor, system developer and system integrator of the DLRO aircraft was Elta Systems Ltd, a subsidiary of IAI.
The CAEW aircraft is based on the G550 airframe of the US Gulfstream Aerospace. The field-proven G550 CAEW is the third generation DLRO and control aircraft developed by IAI Elta since the mid-1980s.
Program for creating a DLRO aircraft with conformal placement of electronic equipment
In August 2003, Gulfstream was awarded a contract for four (plus two optional) G550s. The first flight of the modified aircraft took place in May 2006, and in September 2006 it was delivered to Elta for the installation of special systems. The first and second CAEW aircraft were delivered to the Israeli Air Force in February and May 2008 and have been in service ever since.
In February 2009, the Singapore Air Force received four CAEW aircraft from Elta Systems. The $ 1 billion planes will replace four obsolete, Air Force-operated Northrop E-2C aircraft. The Singapore Air Force has also ordered several CAEWs for delivery in 2009 and 2010. (Note trans: Italy and the US also ordered this aircraft, Colombia is checking ordering).
The CAEW aircraft is based on the G550 airframe from Gulfstream Aerospace.
Modifications CAEW Gulfstream G550
CAEW provides improved performance in terms of increased combat altitude, longer range and extended patrol times. The main advantages of the efficiency of DLRO are the result of the ability to concentrate radio-electronic beams in any direction in space at any time when the beam parameters are controlled by a radar computer. The CAEW aircraft is based on the Gulfstream G550 airframe, an aerodynamic upgraded version of the Gulfstream V-SP. The aircraft was assembled at the Gulfstream Business Jet Manufacturing Center in Savannah, Georgia, USA and handed over to IAI Elta Systems Ltd in Ashdod, Israel.
Compared to the original G550, the redesigned CAEW aircraft has increased weight, redesigned design, additional cabling, three (instead of one) generators and a liquid cooling system for special equipment. In particular, the aircraft has low drag.
IAI's Bedek Aviation has been awarded a contract to provide service and support for Israeli CAEW aircraft.
The CAEW aircraft can be used for long-range radar detection, intelligence gathering and aviation combat control.
CAEW cab
The base G550 aircraft is equipped with Honeywell Primus Epic avionics and a two-seat Gulfstream PlaneView cockpit. The CAEW dashboard provides the pilot with circular 3D AWACS information in real time.
Special systems
The AWACS system has six multipurpose Windows-based operator stations with 24-inch color monitors installed in the rear half of the passenger compartment. In front of the passenger compartment, located behind the cockpit, the electronic equipment is located.
The DLRO Elta system provides real-time target acquisition and target data with full 360 ° coverage. The high performance of the aircraft is not lost due to the placement of conformal antennas. Numerous conformal antennas provide coverage without the need for the large mushroom radar system found on such aircraft.
The aircraft is equipped with the Elta EL / W-2085 AWACS system, which includes an early warning phased airborne radar station, it is also equipped with friend or foe identification systems, electronic warfare support, electronic reconnaissance and communication systems for transmitting tactical reconnaissance data.
The system is highly automated and uses advanced data fusion techniques from multiple sensors to cross-compare data from all four sensors - radar, friend or foe identification system, electronic warfare system, and electronic intelligence and communications systems for transmitting tactical intelligence data. The data is combined with an automatically initiated active search of one sensor for specific targets found by other sensors.
CAEW has six Windows-based multipurpose operator stations.
The phased array of the airborne early warning radar, active phased array (AFAR), operates in the L and S bands (1GHz to 2GHz and 2GHz to 4GHz) and provides 360 ° azimuth coverage. The system possesses high accuracy of three-dimensional tracking, low level of false alarms, flexible and high target viewing period, electronic protection and programmable target search and tracking modes.
Modes of operation include tracking, long-delay early warning and target verification mode. After defining the target as a priority, the radar switches to a high-speed scan mode with an optimized beam in order to measure the characteristics of the target.
The radar antenna array of the front hemisphere and the meteorological radar are installed in the nose cone. Side antenna arrays are located in conformal fairings along the sides of the fuselage nose. The radar antenna array of the rear hemisphere is located in the tail fairing of the radar antenna.
The information system "friend or foe" uses radar transmitting and receiving modules and antennas and performs a request for target ownership, decoding, target acquisition, direction finding and target tracking.
The first and second CAEW aircraft were delivered to the Israel Air Force in February and May 2008 and have been in service ever since.
The electronic warfare system and the electronic intelligence system uses several narrow and wideband receivers. These systems also function as a radiation warning station and support the aircraft's self-defense system. Suspended containers with antennas are installed under the wingtips. The electronic warfare antenna is installed in the nose cone, which also houses the meteorological radar. The DF function uses the differential receive time of the reflected signal.
The automated communications system covers high (HF) and very high (VHF) frequency bands from 3 MHz to 3 GHz.
Means of communication
The aircraft's communication facilities provide network-centric operations capabilities, allowing interaction with units of the air force, navy and ground forces and include equipment for VHF, HF, satellite communications, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), secure telephony, secure data channel and intercom.
The aircraft is equipped with a reliable anti-jamming duplex satellite radio communication EL / K-189 and a data transmission channel. Satellite communications operate in the Ku-band, from 12.5 GHz to 18 GHz. The satellite communication antenna and one flat phased array are located in the fairing above the vertical tail of the aircraft, and the other flat array is located in the ventral fairing. The antenna has stabilization capabilities. This communication channel supports voice communication, data transmission and compressed video.
The aircraft can be equipped with a data link in accordance with the requirements of the customer country.
Aircraft protection
The aircraft is equipped with an integrated self-defense package with an all-aspect radiation warning station, a missile attack warning system, a container with dipole reflectors and IR traps, and a controlled IR countermeasures system.
Special systems Elta CAEW includes a conformal dual-band phased airborne early warning radar, identification systems "friend or foe", electronic warfare, electronic reconnaissance and communications systems for transmitting tactical reconnaissance data
Rolls-Royce BR710C4-11 by-pass turbojet engine
The aircraft is powered by two Rolls-Royce BR710C4-11 68.4 kN turbojet engines with full responsibility digital engine management. The engines are installed at the rear of the fuselage. The fuel storage in the wing fuel compartments is 23,400 liters, and the fuel system is equipped with an automatic fuel distribution subsystem to control load changes as the aircraft uses fuel during flight.
The aircraft is equipped with Hamilton Sundstrand power generators, in addition, the generators installed on the engines are capable of providing up to 240 kW of electricity.
Gulfstream was responsible for the design and supply of a liquid cooling system for servicing high-power avionics.
Multiple conformal antennas provide 360 ° full-view coverage without the need for a large mushroom radar system
Flight technical characteristics:
Wingspan: 28, 50 m.
Length: 29, 39 m.
Height: 7, 87 m.
Engines: 2хТРДД Rolls-Royce BR710C4-11.
Engine power: 68.4 kN.
Maximum speed: Mach 0, 885, 1, 084 km / h.
Flight range: 12501 km.
Flight duration: 9 hours with a flight radius of 185 km and an altitude of 12,500 m.
