The existing Netra Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft 

Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) has released an Expression of Interest to participate in Mission System of Airborne Surveillance System Program as a Development cum Production Partner (DccP) for AEWC MK-II project as per a DRDO release.

The  Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in Sept 2021 cleared a nearly Rs 11,000 crore project of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to develop six new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

This is in addition to the nearly $3 billion deal for procuring 56 C-295MW transport aircraft for the IAF, which was also cleared by the Committee, to replace the ageing fleet of Avro 748 transport aircraft that first flew in 1961.


Specified Requirements

The purpose of this EOI is to short list the industry partners for issue of RFP for role of DcPP towards design, development and production of Mission systems for the Airborne Surveillance Systems. The scope of work is in four phases namely support during Design phase, Development phase, Production and Testing Phase and Long Term Post-delivery Support Phase. The activities envisaged during these phases, scope of work in design, development, production and post-delivery support phase, role of DcPP, Evaluation Criteria, Selection Procedure for issue of RFP, Terms and Conditions, Intellectual Property (IP) rights and List of documents to be submitted etc. is described in this document.

The purpose of this EoI is to understand the capabilities and potentials of the Indian Industries to be nominated as DcPP, to undertake system engineering and realisation of complex airborne system of systems, which includes the following broad tasks:

(a) Development of Mission Systems (MS) as per design specifications of CABS DRDO. Towards this, development and testing of software, hardware, firmware of various airborne mission systems will have to be carried out by the selected DcPP under the guidance of CABS team. The scope of work also includes structural, thermal and aerodynamic analysis of structural units deemed as safety critical and identified as part of the aircraft. System Engineering process defined by CABS is to be followed during the development phase.
(b) Receipt of MSA sub-systems from participating labs of DRDO for integration.
(c) Integration and evaluation of the Mission systems in Rig. Towards this, support in adaptation of Rig to meet the testing requirements also have to be carried out.
(d) Integration and testing of the Six Mission Systems in Blue aircraft.
(e) Support in Flight testing, Certification, and Acceptance Test.
(f) Development and Production of all Ground Systems which includes Four Ground Exploitation Systems (GESs), Mission Software Support Facility (MSSF), Mission Planning & Analysis Station (MIPAS), Automatic Test Equipment (ATE), and Operator Training Station (OTS).