IAI Plans First Deliveries of EL/M-2022A Radar for RCAF C-295s in 2018
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will deliver the first of the company’s EL/M-2022A X-band (8.5-10.68GHz) airborne surveillance radars to equip Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) new Airbus C-295 turboprop Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft by the middle of 2018, IAI has told MONS. The news follows the announcement made by IAI on 23 October that it would be furnishing the C-295 with this system. IAI added that these radars will be installed directly at Airbus’ C-295 production line in Seville, southern Spain, stating that the radars will also have a degree of local customisation for the RCAF, notably in terms of instrumented range extensions.
According to IAI’s published information, the radar imposes a weight penalty of 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and consumes 50 watts of electricity. It has a detection range of up to 150 nautical miles (278 kilometres) and offers synthetic aperture radar modes, has an integrated identification friend or foe and an Automatic Identification System (mandated by the International Maritime Organisations for all vessels displacing over 600 tonnes), and can perform air-to-air as well as air-to-surface target detection, including detection of small targets in rough seas.
According to MONS’ sources, Canada already received six of these radars between 2008 and 2010 to modernise the RCAF’s Lockheed Martin HC-130J maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) used for coast guard duties, with the radar also used by the RCAF’s Lockheed Martin P-3C ORION MPA, delivered as part of an upgrade package for these aircraft between 2002 and 2005. Moreover, records illustrated that, to date, four of the radars have already been procured for the same number of C-295 aircraft between 2007 and 2014.
Tom Withington