SIVA IMR Pod Explained

In simple terms, the SIVA IMR pod is something similar to the ELTA Systems-developed ELM-2060P radar targetting pod, and it will be used for location of static ground targets/installations. The fact that the DRDO’s PJ-10 Project Office is the nodal agency for developing the IMR pod indicates that this pod will be used in conjunction with the BrahMos-NG (previously known as BrahMos-Mini) air-launched supersonic cruise missile.

While DATA Patterns Pvt Ltd has won the contract to series-produce the BrahMos-NG’s on-board X-band monopulse SAR seeker, the X-band monopulse SAR suite meant for installation inside the IMR pod will be produced by ECIL Ltd.

Systems integration and flight qualification of both the BrahMos-NG and SIVA IMR pod will be jointly undertaken by the Indian Air Force’s Bengaluru-based Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment, HAL’s Nashik Division, BrahMos Aerospace and IRKUT Corp, which is the sole IPR owner of all operating software source-codes used by the Su-30MKI. Service-induction of this weapon system is not expected before 2020.

The existing SIVA HADF pods is used primarily for real-time detection and location of hostile ground-based air-defence radars, with the targetting cues then being uploaded into the Kh-3P anti-radiation missile’s on-board mission computer. This very same pod will in future also be used in conjunction with the DRDO-developed NG-ARM.  

Two More A-50EI PHALCON AEW & CS For IAF

Following a seven-year wait, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) will later this month sign a procurement contract with Russia’s Rosoboronexport State Corp and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for two A-50EI PHALCON AEW & CS (using the IL-476-90 airframe), with each being fitted with the IAI-supplied/installed/integrated ELW-2090 mission avionics suite for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Though the MoD had negotiated and finalised a follow-on US$1.5 billion contract to acquire another three A-50EI PHALCON AEW & CS by November 2008, contract signature could not take place until officials from both Rosoboronexport State Corp and Ilyushin Finance Corp gave firm assurance to the IAF last June that a new-generation successor to the IL-76, called IL-476, featuring a fully-digital fly-by-wire flight control system, glass cockpit avionics and PS-90A-76 turbofans, was available from Russia’s Ulyanovsk-based AVIASTAR SP Aircraft Building Enterprise JSC. 

Consequently, the follow-on order for two A-50EI PHALCONs was negotiated with both Rosoboronexport and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) by late last year. From the Russian side the principal industrial contractors will be AVIASTAR SP and Taganrog-based Beriev Aircraft Company. IAI will commence deliveries of the two A-50EIs from mid-2018.

Presently based at the IAF’s Agra Air Force Station as part of No.50 Squadron, alongside No.78 Squadron, which presently operates six IL-78MKI aerial refuelling tankers, the IAF’s first two A-50EI PHALCONs arrived in India on May 25, 2009 and March 25, 2010, respectively. The third platform arrived in Agra in March 2011.

The A-50EI/PHALCON’s EL/M-2075 mission avionics suite of these three PHALCONs includes the L-band active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar (comprising three antenna arrays mounted in a triangular manner) contained within a radome above the fuselage. The electronically-steered beam provides 360-degree coverage around the aircraft and it carries up to 11 mission management personnel for airspace surveillance and airborne battlespace management. BARCO of Belgium supplied the 20-inch AMLCDs for the mission management suit, with Tadiran SpectraLINK supplying the secure digital data links.