Airborne Early Warning Systems - A-50EI Phalcon, DRDO Netra AEW&C, DRDO AWACS
- Thread starter Ashwin
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DAC clears capital acquisition proposals worth over Rs 54,000 crore to enhance defence capabilities
Under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), o
pib.gov.in
Im hoping this is for Netra Mk 1A procurement of used Embraer jets.
Old 2019 CABS presentation on this subject , for archival purpose post only. Could not find it posted in this thread.
@randomradio @Rajput Lion
Do we know for a fact that Netra is L-band? Based on this, it seems to be S-band, same as Erieye:
Do we know for a fact that Netra is L-band? Based on this, it seems to be S-band, same as Erieye:
AFAIK, Netra uses S-band primary AAAU and Ku, VHF & C band data links. MK2 will also have nose mounted X-band radar.
Yeah, those numbers are for S band. So I suppose Netra Mk1A and Mk2 will come with S band primary compared to Netra Mk1's L band.
The original A330-based system was a combined L-band + S-band, and with 4 arrays it could combine the effects of 2 arrays in a single sector.
The LSTAR mentioned in the poster was intended to feed into the Mk1 program itself, not Mk1A/Mk2.
Is there any source saying the Netra Mk1 is L-band?
Nothing I can find with a simple Google search. But I know Netra 1 is L band.
With your source it appears 1A and 2 will be S band and X band.
I guess that's why they are restarting A330 with L band.
Isn't the 200 km detection against sqm is less?
You saying we will have xband radar on mk2?
Why can't we design a 360 deg dome radar (s or l band) over A330 and additional radar (x or J band) as following configuration " nose & rear (not a simple mounting but as ballooned structure as we seeing on chilean AWACS) in spherical configuration, left and right side of aircraft in square pannel configuration"
A330 is gigantic aircraft, this configuration is possible i think, only thing is we need onboard auxiliary powerplant.
I beleive this configuration will give sufficient range while scanning, and can be que missile to enemies. Probably a better design to detect stealth aircraft too.
@vstol Jockey
My opinion(could be right or wrong):
1. Netra MK1 has S-Band GaAs AESA radar with 240° coverage and 200-300kms range.
2. Netra MK1A too has S-Band AESA radar with GaN TRMs, 240° coverage and 400kms range.
3. Netra MK2 also will have S-Band GaN AESA radar with 300° coverage and 400-500kms range along with nose-mounted X-Band radar.
4. Netra MK3 will have likely hybrid GaN AESA radar with both S-Band & L-Band along with EO sensors to detect VLO and X-Band radar(nose mounted) with full 360° coverage of primary AAAU(rotodome) and will have full 4D functions(though the above may have it too.)
Let's see.
I too used to think Netra Mk1 was L-band because I erroneously believed that's why they call it L-STAR.
Anyway, LSTAR itself is the prototype for Netra Mk1 primary radar for all intents & purposes. As you can see in the first line under "objectives" in the poster I shared, it's clearly mentioned as "S-band frequency". I don't see any room for ambiguity at this point, Netra Mk1 is S-band....unless anyone can bring forth evidence that proves otherwise.
The primary radars of Mk1A & Mk2 will also be S-band.
It's not that bad in normal operation (when it's managing hundreds of targets across its full FoV). If it has to provide targeting cues for BVR combat, it can refine the beams and obtain much longer ranges (up to 300km as mentioned). There's evidence of the Netra Mk1 being able to maintain tracks at up to 475km (not just detection, but tracking) when the beam is highly refined & focused (what they call 'Super Extended Mode'):
But yeah, it's definitely something we need to work on improving. The Netra Mk-1A should set most of these things right...the progress we made in radars & electronics over the past decade is mind-boggling.
Netra 1 is L band. The others are S band.
Dunno about any Mk3. The one they had for A330 contained both L band and S band on a single array. The L band was placed like a plus sign while the S band covered the corners. With a square formation, the L band resolution in azimuth would have been far superior with double the length, the corner S bands too would be twice as big when joined up with the other array face to make up for the altitude resolution weakness of such a radar design.
Don't worry about the coverage that much. On Erieye, the 30 deg extra they have can only perform detection. Its main functions are still limited to 240 deg.
Btw, it's easy to tell that Netra Mk1 is L band.
It has 160 TRMMs with each TRMM containing 8 TRMs. So each array face has 1280 TRMs. So that's L band. An S band radar would have over 2000.
It has 160 TRMMs with each TRMM containing 8 TRMs. So each array face has 1280 TRMs. So that's L band. An S band radar would have over 2000.
The LSTAR brochure which @Parthu has posted is indeed of Netra MK1 from Defence Expo 2012. There is now little doubt that it uses S-Band primary AAAU, IMO.
Okay, on further checks, this looks like LRDE's design, which lost to CABS. So this L-STAR is not what went on Netra, it's a TD. CABS designed their own radar.
It lost 'cause it was too heavy for the Embraer jet.
LRDE continued the development of the L-STAR and they now have an S band radar with GaN.
It's unclear if LRDE and CABS will compete again. They likely will 'cause CABS also designed the radar for A330. Or CABS could get Mk1A and LRDE could get Mk2, 'cause it's supposed to be more advanced and will use a platform that can handle a heavier radar.
So now I'm expecting Mk1 and 1A to have L band, and Mk2 to have S and X band.
Here's something interesting.
A very, very official parliament report.
Netra seems to have been sanctioned under Vajpayee and L-STAR was called "L-Band."
So it's likely that CABS was cleared to develop this project. We can see AEWC&S was cleared at the same time as well. And then LRDE jumped into the program with their own L-STAR, where L is "Long range." This is something DRDO labs have a habit of doing.
A very, very official parliament report.
Netra seems to have been sanctioned under Vajpayee and L-STAR was called "L-Band."
So it's likely that CABS was cleared to develop this project. We can see AEWC&S was cleared at the same time as well. And then LRDE jumped into the program with their own L-STAR, where L is "Long range." This is something DRDO labs have a habit of doing.
That might be the one going on Mk2.
So now I'm expecting Mk1 and 1A to have L band, and Mk2 to have S and X band.
The S band radar, either the same thing with GaN or a new deriative radar from their L-STAR. Too early to tell though.