BY : ZEE NEWS

As India prepares to receive the first of its Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) Phalcon, Indian Air Force has cleared proposals to acquire three more such platforms.

The proposals have been forwarded to the Defence Ministry to enable placing of follow-on order estimated to be worth USD 2 billion for Phalcon IL-76TD, a top IAF official said.

With this, IAF now proposes to field six such platforms with delivery expected to be completed between 2009-2012.

These AWACS will bolster India's air-surveillance capability multi-fold giving it an eye-in-the-air to detect enemy planes and missiles while in flight far away.

India will get the delivery of first of its three Phalcons AWACS in September this year and the follow-on platforms in April 2009 and August 2010.

The first of the Phalcon AWACS powered by 4PS-90A-76 engines is currently being fitted out with mission sensors and management suites and will be ready for roll out by end of next month for flight certification, a top Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI) official said.

"Air platforms have already undergone maiden flight tests in November last year and again in January and February this year in Russia," he said.

India was to receive deliveries of the first of these aircrafts in December 2007, but the transfer was delayed due to time over-runs in customising the airframes by Uzbekistans Tashkent Aircraft Production Organisation (TAPO).

India had inked the USD 1.5 billion contract in November 2003 with Russia's Rosoboronexport Corporation and Israel's IAI for purchase of three AWACS.