EL/M-2075
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The IAI EL/M-2075 Phalcon is an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) radar system in use by a number of countries to give intelligence to maintain air superiority and conduct surveillance. It was developed with a partnership between Israeli Aircraft Industries and Elta Electronics Industries, of Israel. The Phalcon was considered the most advanced AEW&C system in the world, before the introduction of American made Wedgetail for Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF).
Instead of using a rotodome, a moving radar found on AWACS planes, the Phalcon uses the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), an active phased array radar. This radar consists of transmit/receive (T/R) modules that each scan a small fixed area, making a rotodome unnecessary. AESA radars have very short to instantaneous scanning rates and that make them difficult to detect.
Phalcon radars can be mounted on the an aircraft's fuselage or on the top inside a small dome. Either position gives the radar 360 degree coverage. This allows it to track high maneuvering targets and low flying objects from hundreds of kilometers away, under all weather conditions, in both day and night.
The radars can be fitted to a number of aircraft, including the Boeing 707, Boeing 767, Boeing 747, and the Ilyushin Il-76. The first Phalcon system to be installed was fitted to a Boeing 707 and first flown in 1993. In May 1994, it was sold to Chile, where it is known as the Condor.
China's purchase of the Phalcon system in 2000 was denied due to pressure from the United States. India bought three Phalcon systems in 2004 for a cost of $1.1 billion. At the same time, Russia agreed to supply IL-76s to India for fitting of the Phalcon.
The Israeli Air Force has purchased 5 Gulfstream G550 aircraft to serve as the new IDF platform for the Phalcon system. Extensive modifications made to the Gulfstream's fuselage, such as the addition of protruding composite radomes, are intended to allow for the housing of the radar arrays.
