India is anxiously awaiting Israel’s delivery of the Phalcon Air Early Warning and Control System. Israel’s Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, on a state-visit to one of Israel’s most enthusiastic allies, declared Thursday that delivery would take place very soon.
"Finally we have succeeded in implementing the deal and we expect to make deliveries shortly", Shalom told reporters after top-level meetings with Indian leaders including India’s Defense Minister George Fernandes.
Under the deal, Israel will supply the Phalcon Awacs radars to be mounted on the Russian IL-76 platform which would greatly enhance the surveillance capability of the Indian Air Force against incoming surface-to-surface missiles as well as the means to strike deep into enemy territory.
India is bidding to have four aircraft mounted with the Awacs radars. Shalom’s comments indicated that considerable progress has been made toward the manufacturing of Phalcon radars and toward equipping the IL-76 with special avionics. The system integration is being done by Israel Air Force specialists.
"We have agreed on the sale of Phalcons," Shalom said adding, "we had some problems with the Americans till recently, we now have had the opportunity to finalize the deal".
The deal between Israel and India is worth $1.1 billion. A similar deal a few years ago between Israel and China was canceled after the U.S. stepped in, forcing Israel to back out. The White House feared the advanced radar system could be used in a future conflict against America’s ally, Taiwan.
It should be noted that while Israel agreed not to give potentially lethal weapons to China out of consideration to the U.S., the U.S. continues to heavily arm Egypt and Saudi Arabia despite Israeli objections that these weapons may be used against Israel in future acts of aggression.
"Finally we have succeeded in implementing the deal and we expect to make deliveries shortly", Shalom told reporters after top-level meetings with Indian leaders including India’s Defense Minister George Fernandes.
Under the deal, Israel will supply the Phalcon Awacs radars to be mounted on the Russian IL-76 platform which would greatly enhance the surveillance capability of the Indian Air Force against incoming surface-to-surface missiles as well as the means to strike deep into enemy territory.
India is bidding to have four aircraft mounted with the Awacs radars. Shalom’s comments indicated that considerable progress has been made toward the manufacturing of Phalcon radars and toward equipping the IL-76 with special avionics. The system integration is being done by Israel Air Force specialists.
"We have agreed on the sale of Phalcons," Shalom said adding, "we had some problems with the Americans till recently, we now have had the opportunity to finalize the deal".
The deal between Israel and India is worth $1.1 billion. A similar deal a few years ago between Israel and China was canceled after the U.S. stepped in, forcing Israel to back out. The White House feared the advanced radar system could be used in a future conflict against America’s ally, Taiwan.
It should be noted that while Israel agreed not to give potentially lethal weapons to China out of consideration to the U.S., the U.S. continues to heavily arm Egypt and Saudi Arabia despite Israeli objections that these weapons may be used against Israel in future acts of aggression.