Embraer Defense & Security showed a model of the P600 airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft it is developing in partnership with IAI/Elta Systems at last week's IDEX show in Abu Dhabi. The companies also jointly marketed the aircraft at the recent Aero India show, but remain tight-lipped about the status of the program.
The P600 is based on the airframe of the Embraer Praetor 600 super-midsize business jet, equipped with a state-of-the-art, low-weight, high-efficiency digital S-band Elta AESA radar in a dorsal radome. The aircraft will also incorporate civil and military IFF, ESM, ELINT, and COMINT systems, and an advanced and robust self-protection suite. The P600 will be equipped with a comprehensive communication suite including data networks and satellite links for Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS) operation.
The configuration illustrated incorporates just three operator workstations, although the Arkhe mission management system from the Embraer group’s Atech will reduce workload by presenting operators with a fuzed picture, and by automatically generating and maintaining the integrated air and surface picture using all of the integrated onboard sensors, operator inputs, and offboard sources. The antenna array provides 240-degree coverage (120 degrees on each side of the aircraft), and the use of gallium nitride (GaN) technology promises to provide good range and electronic counter-countermeasures performance. Moreover, the aircraft will have a service ceiling of up to 40,000ft, a cruise speed of up to Mach 0.8, a flight endurance of seven and a half hours, and the ability to operate from a 6,200-foot runway.
The two companies signed a cooperation agreement to develop the P600 in June 2019, but a senior program source said that they are still searching for a launch customer. The team believes that achieving this will be a “long-term proposition” since the companies are addressing something of a “niche market opportunity” for a credible, highly capable but “entry-level” AEW aircraft.
Neither company necessarily expects the Brazilian or Israeli Air Force to be the launch customer, since Brazil is undertaking an ambitious E-99M modernization program for its five ERJ-145-based AEW aircraft, which have many years of service ahead of them. Israel currently operates the IAI/ELTA G550 CAEW which only entered operational service in 2008.
Both partners bring considerable previous AEW experience to the development of the P600 AEW. IAI/Elta is a world leader in special mission aircraft based on commercial jets, as well as a leading provider of airborne radars. The company’s portfolio includes the development of the Gulfstream-based E-550A Eitam CAEW platform, with two aircraft for Israel, four for Singapore, and two for Italy, all equipped with EL/W-2085 radar).
Embraer has developed the EMB-145RS, or E-99, for the Brazilian air force, combining Saab’s Erieye AEW radar with the ERJ-145 airframe. Similar aircraft have been exported to Mexico (one EMB-145AEW&C), and Greece (five Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C). Embraer also supplied three modified EMB 145i airframes for India’s Netra AEW program.