Elta Systems is offering a remarkable number of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) platforms. The subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI, Chalet A29) is a systems integrator, as well as a radar, SIGINT (signals intelligence) and electronic warfare house. The product line extends to ground-based ISTAR exploitation and dissemination systems. But traditional Israeli secrecy about customers makes it difficult to assess just how successful Elta has been in the market for supplying special mission aircraft.
However, a presentation by Elta at the Airborne ISR & C2 Battle Management conference in London last February, organized by Defence IQ, provided some insights. From other sources, AIN has learned more about the company’s progress in offering a wide variety of tailored ISTAR solutions.
Elta’s signature ISTAR product is the Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) system based on the Gulfstream 550 business jet. It has been operational with the Israeli air force since 2008, with Singapore quickly following (four aircraft). The Italian air force is due to receive two CAEWs, as an offset for Israel’s purchase of the M346 jet trainer.
Where others have failed, Elta has managed to integrate fore-and-aft S-band AESA (active electronically scanned array) antennas, with L-band antennas mounted on the sides of the G550 CAEW fuselage. The radar operates in both bands simultaneously, with S-band offering a higher gain from a smaller antenna. The IFF (identification friend or foe) system for both bands is also in a phased-array configuration. The layout provides full 360-degree coverage with no obstruction from the airframe.
Inside the cabin, the operators are presented with what Elta calls the air situation picture (ASP). This includes ballistic as well as air-breathing threats, detected across a wide range of velocities. According to Elta, the operational requirements for the ASP are constantly growing, because of low-signature aircraft and missiles; electronic and cyber warfare; and other developments. Better identification, classification, coordination and interoperability are the aim.
Elta has also converted three Indian air force Ilyushin Il-76 airlifters into AEW/AWACS (airborne early warning/airborne warning and control system) aircraft. Operational since 2009, these aircraft have triangular, L-band antennas contained in a fixed upper radome. A proposed sale by Israel of a similar system to China was prevented by the U.S.
In 2010, Elta began working with Airbus Defence and Space to offer an AEW version of the C-295 turboprop airlifter. Unlike the Indian Il-76 conversions, the antenna dome atop the aircraft for the AESA radar antenna rotates. A belly-mounted SAR/GMTI (synthetic aperture radar/ground moving target indicator) radar is an optional extra. The C-295 AEW offers up to eight hours on station at a 200 nautical mile radius without refueling, although that is also an option. It has the largest cabin and the lowest operating cost in its class, according to Elta. There have been no takers yet, but Elta says that the C-295 AEW is “still being marketed intensively.”
All of Elta’s conversions for the AEW/AWACS role also include ELINT (electronic intelligence) and COMINT (communications intelligence) sensors. The synergy between the ‘active’ radar and ‘passive’ SIGINT sensors is too valuable to forgo. Passive sensors offer better classification, discrimination and identification of targets and (through COMINT) some indication of intention. ADS-B signals are part of the integration. (Incidentally, Elta provides the SIGINT subsystem for Boeing’s Wedgetail AWACS aircraft).
But the company has also produced dedicated airborne SIGINT platforms. The Airborne Integrated Signal Intelligence System (AISIS) on a Gulfstream V business jet has been in operation with the Israeli air force since 2006. The ELINT antenna arrays are within a large radome beneath the forward fuselage, with the COMINT blades beneath the mid-fuselage.
The Gulfstream V was also slated as the platform for Elta’s Multi-mission Airborne Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (MARS). But this concept has now evolved into MARS2, hosted on the larger G550, and including an advanced active-array SAR/GMTI radar that includes maritime modes; an EO/IR (electro-optical/infrared) imaging sensor; and SIGINT sensors. Elta officials say that their GMTI sensor capability now extends to wide areas and slow movers, and their SAR sensor resolution is well below one meter in spot mode. MARS2 is still under development; company officials have described it as a low-risk equivalent to the JSTARS (joint surveillance and target attack radar system) recapitalization platform being pursued in the U.S. It is an open architecture system. Between four and six onboard operators are envisioned.
Elta is offering a smaller version of the same system, without the EO/IR sensor, on the G280 mid-size business jet. This aircraft was originally a co-development between Gulfstream and IAI. The cabin is large enough to house four operators. Though the program launched in March last year, no customer has yet been announced for the G280 conversion.
In February last year, IAI announced a new partnership with Bombardier to offer a maritime patrol aircraft—with mostly Elta sensors—using the Global 5000 business jet. In fact, the partnership had already started. The Indian air force asked Elta to convert two of these aircraft for an ISTAR role. They entered service last year, carrying a SAR/GMTI radar and a long-range oblique photography (LOROP) sensor—which AIN believes is the DB-110 from UTA Aerospace Systems, rather than the rival sensor from Israeli company El-Op.
Elta has also designed special mission conversions of the Beechcraft King Air, and the Bombardier Q400 twin-turboprop airliner. The Israeli air force operates some King Air 200s for ISTAR, and Elta has sold this conversion to a South American country. But the Q400 has not yet gained a customer. The company says it is always ready to install sensors on aircraft that a customer supplies, or suggests. Nevertheless, company officials make no secret of their preference for business jets, because of their longer range, greater speed and higher operating altitude. The Challenger 605 is another such candidate.
Who is responsible for designing and certifying the airframe modifications for a special mission aircraft? This often involves providing additional generator power, as well as modifying the outer mold line. Gulfstream performed this task for Elta’s CAEW and AISIS conversions, and insists on retaining this responsibility. But Bombardier allowed Elta’s parent IAI to design these ‘Group A’ modifications for the Global 5000 multi-imaging conversion sold to India.
In addition to conversions, Elta offers ‘bolt-on’ ISTAR capability to fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters with podded systems, including a unique radar (SAR and GMTI) targeting system that made its debut on Israeli F-16s some years ago, and was subsequently added to some U.S. Air National Guard F-16s. Elta also supplies ground radars from UHF up to C-band. And, of course, the company’s various imaging and SIGINT sensors have been adapted to UAVs–especially the IAI Heron and Heron TP.
