Aircraft

Gulfstream Aerospace last week delivered the first of two Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) special-mission aircraft to the Israeli ministry of defence. The G550 serves as the platform for Israel’s airborne early-warning surveillance system.

Following the aircraft’s handover in Tel Aviv, Israel Aircraft Industries subsidiary Elta Systems will install the aircraft’s Phalcon-derivative phased array radar. Israeli sources say the aircraft – designated “Eitam” by the Israeli air force – will be able to detect ballistic missile launches using pod-mounted sensors.

To take the weight of Elta’s mission system, Gulfstream increased the G550’s maximum zero fuel weight using a mid-wing fuel ejector that redistributes fuel from the inboard side of the wing to the outboard fuel cells, reducing wing loads at the fuselage. It also installed an extra generator on each of the two Rolls-Royce BR710 engines, providing three times the electrical power of a standard G550 business jet.

Gulfstream has already delivered two of three GV-based “Shavit” special electronic mission aircraft to Israel for electronic intelligence, communications intelligence and ground movement detection duties.