KJ-600 carrierborne AEWC thread & possible KY-600 (?) COD aircraft

[Gloire_bb]

I love it. KJ-600 is such a step forward. We already saw 3 operating off CV-18 today.

Tbh I'm equally intrigued by big nose radome. Far too big for weather radar, and this shape implies something big and moving is inside (not just swashplate).
On the other hand, no full sized rear aperture, and no ambition above 180 deg sector.

Like J-15T fire control, but on swivel?

 

[tphuang]

I assume that one allows it to operate in conjunction with the large disk and probably at a different band. Could allow better scanning of naval assets and also narrow beam in directions with significant emissions or something like that.

 

[Deino]

3 KJ-600 on deck

 

[Gloire_bb]

I assume that one allows it to operate in conjunction with the large disk and probably at a different band. Could allow better scanning of naval assets and also narrow beam in directions with significant emissions or something like that.

Different band is 100%. Due to position I suspect it's primarily offensive air to air x band set, allowing AEW full targeting/height finding capability without low band limitations, including single stop OtH for surface ships.
Full overland low altitude capability, including very small targets, too.

Having second array in the rear would be ideal, but this is carrier plane ultimately, hard to fit in geometrically. 180 degree field should be safe enough, rudder is there for a reason.

 

[wuguanhui]

I love it. KJ-600 is such a step forward. We already saw 3 operating off CV-18 today.

Wonder when we'll see them off the 076.

 

[johncliu88]

Here is a good picture showing 7106 is landing while the other one 7104 is on deck.

 

[tphuang]

Different band is 100%. Due to position I suspect it's primarily offensive air to air x band set, allowing AEW full targeting/height finding capability without low band limitations, including single stop OtH for surface ships.
Full overland low altitude capability, including very small targets, too.

Having second array in the rear would be ideal, but this is carrier plane ultimately, hard to fit in geometrically. 180 degree field should be safe enough, rudder is there for a reason.

yes, it should complement the big disk pretty well. I suspect we will see adjustment if they find it's needed in practice. But in reality, it's hard to see why they'd need a rear facing sensor like that also.

I tend to think it will have quite a few asset in the front that it will direct and be supported by a bunch of naval assets providing it with raw data and received on that humongous CEC antenna (I'm not convinced that's all it does) and then computed on board and then transmitted back out.

So, if things are getting to the rear end, a lot of bad things would've happened already.

Wonder when we'll see them off the 076.

Is there any need for that?

 

[huitong]

KJ-600’s dorsal emergency exit hatch remained closed during launch and landing, suggesting there were only two pilots in the cockpit and no crews in the main cabin at the current stage. The testing of the onboard AEWCS will occur in the later stages.

 

[siegecrossbow]

KJ-600 is just as significant, if not more so, than J-35. Without catapult PLAN couldn’t operate something as heavy has KJ-600 from a carrier, and after a whole decade finally have legitimate AWAC support for the carrier fleet. Fixed wing is exponentially more effective than helos.

 

[4Tran]

KJ-600 is just as significant, if not more so, than J-35. Without catapult PLAN couldn’t operate something as heavy has KJ-600 from a carrier, and after a whole decade finally have legitimate AWAC support for the carrier fleet. Fixed wing is exponentially more effective than helos.

I generally think that AWACS aircraft are the most important component of modern air warfare. Without them, your fighters are fighting blind, and with them, all of the enemy aircraft have targets on their backs. The only reason I'd place the KJ-600 a little lower down is because I don't envision that Chinese carriers will operate very far from the Chinese coast, and so should be within the support envelop of KJ-500s and KJ-2000s. Still, I'd say that it's the difference between a truly threatening carrier air group and a wannabee.

I wonder if it'll be possible to find a way to launch the KJ-600 off of Liaoning and Shandong. If it is, then it massively increases the capability of those ships. I'd suspect not though as the Queen Elizabeths would dearly love to have E-2s, but they're forced to resort to to using helicopter based AEW.