Back in Dec 2023, Chinese military circles started to discuss a new AEW&C Aircraft based on the Y-20 transport platform (link) and (link).
Considering that China is experienced in integrating Russian IL-76 with
its own phased array radar (PAR) by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation since
early 2000, upgrading both radar and the aircraft with Y-20 seems to be a
straightforward next step.
Of course, a photo released in January
9, 2024 (see below) by AVIC, featuring youthful designers and a fairly
large model of the new AEW&C, adding credibility to the ongoing
discussion.
China's first early warning aircraft hints strategic leap in air defense
(Source: Xinhua) 2009-10-01
BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The organizer of China's National Day
parade showed the most important hardware progress the country's Air
Force made in the past decade as the long-range Kongjing-2000 and two
other smaller Kongjing-200 aircraft led air formations.
The
Kongjing-2000 is China's first generation of military airborne early
warning and control (AEWC) system developed with its own technology. The
plane was deployed around 2004 after decades of trade embargo by
Western countries and unsuccessful acquisition of Russia-made
equivalent.
A practical AEWC platform has been long expected by
the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Air Force since the 1960s when
it realized the growing insufficiency of short-range fighters and
limited ground radar bases to defend China's vast territory and more
than 4.7-million square kilometers of waters under its jurisdiction.
With an ability to process comprehensive information and long-range
detection by its active phased array radar, Kongjing-2000 can track
dozens of aerial targets and guide the PLA's fighters to intercept enemy
aircraft far beyond their detection range.
"The early warning
aircraft is a multiplier of air defense forces and its advantages will
be particularly significant out of the land area, such as the South
China Sea," said Prof. Wang Hanling, a maritime expert with the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences.
Kongjing-200 with its balance
beam-like radar on the back of itsYun-8 transporter airframe is a
supplemental AEWC system for lower-altitude and shorter-range mid-air
combat information supply.
"They (AEWC aircraft) are the basic
requirement for the PLA's Air Force to have a systematic combat platform
under information-based warfare," said Prof. Wang Mingliang with the
Air Force Command College.
"To construct such a systematic platform is what the PLA's Air Force is doing and will reinforce in the future," Wang said.
Wang said the PLA is stepping up the platform's construction as the
world's leading air forces have connected air weaponry such asfighters,
bombers, AEWC aircraft and electronic warfare devices with military
information distribution network which rely on military resources in
both the air and the space, such as satellites.
"The AEWC
aircraft is actually a comprehensive mid-air platform that connects the
ground radar and the aircraft which can see and hear farther than a
single weapon alone," said Prof. Tan Kaijia.
"The development
of Kongjing-2000 and Kongjing-200 has also encouraged Chinese scientists
with huge pride, which proves that China can master AEWC technologies,"
Tan said.
The Air Force's vice commander Lt.-Gen. Zhao
Zhongxin told Xinhua that AEWC aircraft played an essential role in
providing navigation and telecommunications services during last year's
earthquake relief work in Sichuan Province and Beijing Olympic Games.
The
aircraft to perform the air show were selected from the PLA's Air
Force, naval aviation and army aviation. Their pilots have conducted
rehearsals of flying over Tian'anmen Square from the air bases in the
outskirts of Beijing.
Editor:Chen Jie
