bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kristin Huang

China is developing a surveillance plane designed to be launched from the country’s newest aircraft carrier and fitted with a radar system to spot enemy stealth jets, military observers say.
State media confirmed for the first time on Monday that China was building its first carrier-borne early-warning plane called the KJ-600.
The announcement comes as the United States has deployed F-35 stealth jets to bases in Japan and other parts of the Asia-Pacific over the last year, challenging China’s air defences in the region.
Chinese military observers said the KJ-600 would be fitted with an advanced active electronically scanned array, or AESA, radar which could enable it to spot stealth aircraft such as US F-22s and F-35s.
Beijing-based military expert Li Jie said the new surveillance plane could also become a command centre in the air.
Work on main battleship for China’s new-generation aircraft carrier enters home stretch
“AESA can detect stealth fighters at a very long range,” Li said.
He said the aircraft would fill a critical weapons gap with the US and improve the combat effectiveness of Chinese carrier battle groups.
Li said the KJ-600 would likely be used on China’s third aircraft carrier under construction in Shanghai and be compatible with its advanced electromagnetic launch system (EMALS). EMALS can launch jets more quickly and effectively than the ski-jump ramps used on China’s first two aircraft carriers. 
US-based military website Eastern Arsenal reported last year that the KJ-600 was being built by Xi’an Aircraft Corporation, weighed 25-30 tonnes, was powered by twin turboprop engines, and had a large AESA radar on its fuselage.

Military analysts said photographs of the KJ-600 suggested it was very similar to the E-2 Hawkeye, the US’ all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early-warning aircraft. 
Military analyst Zhou Chenming, also based in Beijing, said the KJ-600 radar system would put the plane on a par with US early-warning aircraft.
“The biggest advantage of the KJ-600 is it’s equipped with a more sophisticated radar and communication system allowing it to monitor a wider range of signals and even detect stealth fighters in a certain angle,” Zhou said.
For now, China’s aircraft carrier combat group is restricted to shipboard surveillance radars, which have a limited range because of the Earth’s curvature.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Maritime Security Programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the development of the KJ-600 suggested China wanted its carrier group to function far from shore.
Chinese navy trains more fighter pilots for expanded aircraft carrier fleet
“If China’s carrier group is designed more to operate closer to home waters, it would rely on shore-based early warning support,” Koh said. 
“But with [the early-warning] planes, it implies that the People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier battle group is designed for distant sea operations ... requiring ... a more comprehensive early-warning umbrella.” 
But Li and Zhou disagreed over whether the KJ-600 would also be used on China’s first two aircraft carriers.
Li said surveillance helicopters were a better option while Zhou said the KJ-600 could be equipped with a one-off rocket propeller to launch from the vessels’ ski-jump ramps. 
 


Top honours for engineers spotlight China’s gains in military technology

China’s Fujian aircraft conducts first training exercise shortly after entering service

China’s aircraft carriers put to ‘train-as-you-fight’ test beyond island chains

Chinese man who donated US$20 as child to aircraft carrier project is invited for visit 26 years on

China’s aircraft carriers

Why America’s stealth jet forces should fear China’s new unarmed eye in the sky 

China is developing an early-warning carrier-based aircraft with radar to track stealth jets. Photo: Weibo

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II supersonic aircraft, which started its operational testing on the amphibious assault ship USS America. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

News

China

Diplomacy

The Chinese military is developing a carrier-based early-warning plane that will be fitted with radar to detect the most advanced aircraft at longer range


Defence