TRICHY: The airborne early warning and control system (AEWaCS) project developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an example for thinking ahead of time and developing indigenous technology, said its former chairman, S Christopher here on Thursday. 

Delivering a special lecture at the National Institute of Technology – Trichy (NIT-T) to mark the inauguration of the ECE Association 2018-19, Christopher spoke about how it is important for a nation to come up with indigenous technologies that are ahead of its time.

“The motto of early detection of problems and acting on them made the DRDO team build a fully indigenous AEWaCS system,” he said.

Elaborating on the project, Christopher said the idea of predicting impending dangers to an army position in a large area grew to the next level when radar was invented, but soon, the enemies started to defy radar by flying aircrafts in low altitude. “This gave birth to the AEWaCS system where radars came on board in a flight to increase the attention towards immediate dangers and guide other combats to act accordingly,” he said.

Christopher also added that thinking ahead of time could effectively counter competition and also said that utilisation of resources in hand rather than those available outside always provide more effective results.

India is said to be the fourth country in the world to build AEWaCS after Brazil, Mexico and Greece.

AEWaCS – aircraft fitted with a radar system – was provided to Indian Air Force last year and its features include ability to detect incoming cruise missiles, fighter jets and even drones from a long range and can even track multiple aircraft simultaneously.