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On 2 March 2004, the Israeli security cabinet cleared the decks for the sale of US $1.1billion Phalcon airborne warning and control system to India. The final terms for the deal were agreed upon in December 2003 during the Israeli Defence Ministry Director, Gen. Amos Yaron’s visit to New Delhi. According to the deal, which was finally signed on 5 March 2004, the payment for the three Phalcon systems is to be spread over a number of years and the Israel Aircraft Industries will receive an advance payment of some US $350 million.

The Phalcon is an Israeli-developed long-range radar warning and control system carried in a Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, and is similar to airborne command and control systems long in service in the US Air Force. Following are some important features of the system:

• The Phalcon’s phased array radar replaces the conventional rotodome radar. It is mounted either on the aircraft fuselage or on top of the aircraft inside a stationary dome, providing full 360° coverage. This electronically steered beam radar delivers a tremendous advantage over mechanical rotating antenna, as it supports the tracking of high maneuvering targets. The radar can detect even low flying objects from a distance of hundreds of kilometers, day or night and under all weather conditions. Verification beams sent at specific, individual, newly detected targets eliminate false alarms. Moreover, track initiation is instantaneous – 2 to 4 seconds compared to 20 to 40 seconds with the rotodome radar.

• The system uses narrow-band super-heterodyne receivers and wide-band instantaneous frequency measurement (IFM) techniques to provide very high accuracy and probability of intercepting of airborne and surface emitters.

• The Phalcon's CSM/COMINT receives in UHF, VHF and HF, rapidly searching for airborne, shipborne or ground communication signals of interest. Selected radio nets can also be monitored for signal activity.

• The system makes extensive use of computers.

• It can be installed on a variety of platforms, such as the Boeing 707, Boeing 767, Boeing 747, Airbus and C-130.

Airborne Early Warning, Command and Control (AEWC&C) systems play a major role on the modern battlefield by providing real-time intelligence and command and control needed to achieve and maintain air superiority over the combat area and to enable surveillance of borders in peacetime. The radar will help Indian Air Force (IAF) to detect aerial threats by offering a very long-range identification of targets and control over weapons aimed at them. It would also allow the IAF to peep deep into enemy territory and serves as a platform to direct combat planes to targets.

An offshoot of the deal is the strategic relationship developed by Israel and India while negotiating the deal, which marks Israel as an important arms supplier to India. Under pressure from the US in early 2002, Israel had to postpone the Phalcon sale on the pretext of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Later, however, Washington gave its approval without any conditions or limitations. The US has wielded an effective veto over the Phalcon sale to other countries as well. In July 2002, for example, the Clinton administration effectively blocked the sale of a Phalcon system worth $250 million to China on the grounds that it would upset the military balance in the Taiwan Straits.

China has revealed its uneasiness about the deal. Though India has clarified that it will use the Phalcons in only ‘Kargil type of intrusions’, it has failed to assuage China, which believes that the deal is detrimental for regional peace.  However, the deal should not disturb the Chinese since they already possesses such force multipliers.

Pakistan considers the deal as a strategic challenge to itself as it would tip the delicate conventional military balance in favour of India. To counter the Indian move, Pakistan has reportedly geared up its diplomatic channels to acquire surface to air missile ‘FT-2000’ commonly known as ‘AWACS Killers’ designed by Chinese experts. It is being considered as the most appropriate option, if the USA refuses to provide the same kind of airborne warning system to Pakistan.

The Phalcon assuages many of India’s security concerns but is bound to amplify Pakistan’s threat perceptions. And if the latter decides to go for the Chinese FT-2000 it might trigger an arms race weakening further, the security complex in the region.