Airbus Military and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will be jointly developing and marketing a new version of the Airbus Military C295 platform fitted with an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system produced by ELTA Systems, a wholly owned IAI subsidiary.

The primary sensor of the AEW&C will be the IAI/ELTA fourth generation active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar with integrated IFF.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the Le Bourget Airshow by IAI Corp. VP and ELTA President, Nissim Hadas, and Airbus Military CEO, Domingo Ureña. With this agreement, Airbus Military will expand its mission capability to the airborne early warning & command sector, while ELTA will be expanding its AEW&C fleet to include a turboprop platform.

The C295 AEW&C has been designed to provide high quality 360 surveillance, creating in real-time an integrated air and maritime situation picture and electronic order of battle. The AEW&C situation picture is shared with friendly forces via network-centric data links.

Airbus Military CEO, Domingo Ureña, stated, “We see a growing demand emerging for medium size early warning systems and platforms at an affordable price for both air defence and homeland security. This cooperation between ELTA Systems and Airbus Military, which combines the excellent engineering skills and experience of our two companies in their respective fields, will provide the market with a highly efficient and affordable solution, the first in this market segment.”

Nissim Hadas, referring to the mutual cooperation agreement, noted, “The emerging conflicts across the globe are emphasising the importance of special mission fleets. We are sure that by joining forces, we will offer the market the right solution with the right technology. Airbus Military and IAI/ELTA’s superior capabilities in special mission aircraft, advanced sensors and system integration enable us to provide an effective and proven solution for these growing needs.”