Embraer ERJ-145
ICAO E145A regional jet that Brazil turned into a radar aircraft and a transport. Live ERJ-145 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Embraer ERJ-145 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Embraer
- Role
- Transport, surveillance and early warning
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 2 or more
- First flight
- 11 August 1995
- In service
- 1996
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Embraer ERJ-145
Brazil has done more with the ERJ-145 than anyone else. Beyond straightforward transport as the C-99, the airframe carries the R-99 airborne early warning system with a dorsal radar spine, and a remote sensing version used to map the Amazon.
Greece flies the early warning version as the EMB-145H, and India developed its own airborne early warning aircraft on the same airframe with a distinctive dorsal antenna.
This makes it a genuinely capable special mission platform at a fraction of what a converted airliner costs, which is much the same argument as the Global 6000 and the King Air 350.
Callsign prefixes
- BRS
- Brazilian Air Force
- HAF
- Hellenic Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A long, slim regional jet with two rear-mounted engines and a T-tail.
- —Early warning versions carry a long flat radar spine above the fuselage.
- —Noticeably longer than an ERJ-135 with more cabin windows.
Common questions
+ What is the R-99?
Brazil's airborne early warning aircraft, an ERJ-145 fitted with an Erieye radar in a dorsal spine. Greece and Mexico have operated related versions.
+ Is the ERJ-145 still in production?
Passenger production ended, but the airframe continues in military and special mission form, and Embraer has proposed further derivatives.
+ Why use a regional jet for airborne early warning?
Cost and availability. A radar and a handful of operators do not need an airliner-sized cabin, and a regional jet is far cheaper to buy and fly than a 707 or 737.