Israeli manufactured 'Phalcon' AWACS aircraft of the Indian Air Force. Photo by Michael Sender/Wikipedia
India and Israel have signed a deal over an advanced air-defence system as tensions between India and China rise over the Himalayan border dispute. It has also been revealed that Israel has refused to sell the same advanced air-defence system to China, thereby making it clear who they would support should any tensions between the two Asian giants escalate.
The deal signed with India is just part of a larger $2 billion armaments contract that will make India's air-defences among the best in the world. The Phalcon's Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), also known as Airborne Early-Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, allow a military force to detect enemy aircraft, missiles, drones and troop build-ups far better than traditional on the ground anti-aircraft detection systems.
It is thought that India realised it had limitations in this sector during the border skirmishes with Pakistan in 2019 when Pakistani aircraft were able to move about largely undetected.
While Israel had armaments deals with China in the past, these have been largely reigned in due to US pressure, believing that the air-detection systems are so good that should China acquire them, the US would be outmaneuvered in the Asian theatre, where the US has an ally in Taiwan.
There has been an increase in tension between China and India since border skirmishes that killed dozens earlier in the year. The incident took place near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, a disputed region that each country claims authority over. While the area has long been in dispute such incidents are rare. The fear is that any further skirmishes could lead to an escalation of conflict between the two countries, which combined contain well over 25% of the global human population.
There is also the danger that other world powers, notably the United States, would be dragged into the conflict in some way, almost certainly on the side of India. Chinese and American tension has now been high for years, particularly since the election of Donald Trump, who has engaged in a trade-war with China and sought to diminish their ever growing political and economic power.
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