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  • Probably not what you thought
    She is one of a kind as such.

    The IAI Phalcon, or the EL/M-2075 Phalcon to give it its full title, is an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) active electronically scanned array radar system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in the early ?90s. The advanced radar, which up until 2008 was considered to be the best AEW&C system available (according to the Federation of American Scientists), was primarily designed to be fitted in the nose of a Boeing 707, although it could also be fitted to other aircraft, including the Boeing 767, 747, some Airbus aircraft and the Lockheed Martin C-130.

    The Phalcon radar system was built for both the Israeli military, as well as for export. It is designed for airborne early warning, tactical surveillance of airborne and surface targets and intelligence gathering.

    Aside from its impressive capabilites as a radar system, which include the ablity to track low flying objects from hundreds of miles away in any weather day or night, the ability to create a new object track initiation in as little as 2 seconds (as opposed to up to 40 seconds for conventional rotodome radars), and the capability to directly integrate the information with command and control, the IAI Phalcon radar system looks very odd when fitted in the nose of its host aircraft.

    Aside from the Israeli airforce, which has now replaced its fleet of AEW&C aircraft with more modern systems, one of the primary users of the IAI Phalcon system is the Chilean Air Force. They were the first user of the system, taking delivery of a refitted Boeing 707 version of the aircraft, which is known as the Condor. Presumably because the Andean condor, which inhabits most of Chile, and much of the west coast of South America, has an equally ugly head.
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