US tries to prevent delivery of Israeli equipped Beriev aircraft

Published: 4/26/2000

According to reports in the Far Eastern Economic Review, the potential purchase by China of Beriev built A-50 AWAC aircraft derived from the Il-76 and equipped with Israeli radar, is continuing to cause concern in the US, due to the belief that the sale of such a system may give the PRC the edge over Taiwan. The contract if signed is reported to be worth $250m with possible options for additional Beriev aircraft equipped with the Elta Phalcon radar system. The potential signing follows intense pressure from the US on Israel over the last year against the delivery of the technology. Culminating in the intervention of US Secretary of State William Cohen during a visit to Israel in early April. There are reports that the Phalcon equipped A-501 has also been offered to India. Two A-50s have recently begun evaluation trials in the Punjab with crews that have been trained in Russia according to an interview in January with Colonel-General Anatoly Kornukov, the head of the Russian Air Force, at the Air Force"s Scientific and Research Institute N13. Whether the aircraft in India are A-501 remains unclear, but seems unlikely given that the first customer was cited as being China and the first aircraft for the fitting of the radar only arrived in Israel in June of last year. The leasing of the aircraft was agreed between Deputy Prime Minister Klebanov and the Indian authorities in December last year. George Fernandes, the Indian Minister of Defence, recently stated in the Indian parliamentary defence committee that the Ministry of Defence was planning to purchase “several" of the aircraft at a cost reported to exceed $230m. Associated articles: www.concise.org Indians discuss bomber leasing: 4th January 2000 Beriev AEW aircraft for China flies into flak: 15th November 1999 China to take delivery of Russian/Israeli AEW aircraft:4th October 1999

Article ID: 1564