Brazil’s aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced today that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian DRDO (Defense, Research and Development Organization) to support the Indian Air Force new Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) system development.
The new asset will be based on the EMB 145 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform, one of the world’s best selling ISR platforms.
Embraer’s commitment to contribute its previous experience in platform development and complex systems integration was a key factor in the DRDO’s selection.
Indian government analysts and Embraer company engineers are collecting necessary technical data on the aircraft for the study. At the request of the Indian government, an Embraer team recently visited Indian Defense Research and Development Organization and held in-depth discussions to support DRDO personnel in their task.
The analysis is expected to result in an initial contract for three EMB 145 AEW&C aircraft and technical support during the development effort. An order for additional aircraft could materialize in the future, based on a successful first development phase.
“The company considers this partnership a significant milestone with the Indian DRDO, an institution renowned to be one of the leading high technology developers in Asia,” said Embraer’s Executive Vice-President for Defense Market, Romualdo Barros.
“The Indian aerospace industry has reached remarkable achievements and Embraer is proud and thrilled to participate in this initiative. Besides the upcoming contract to supply our EMB 145 ISR platform, we could be involved in some engineering work.”
Barros added, “Embraer is working hard to build a strong relationship with India, which started in 2003 when five Legacy aircraft for Authorities Transport were contracted by the Government, and we are always willing to cooperate with new programs such as the new AEW&C System.”
Business Wire