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

[Maikeru]

Could be argued the CdG was designed with the E-2 in mind so the arrestor gear could compensante for the shorter deck, though, since the planes were basically bought with the CdG in mind and the Clemenceaus could never launch/recover anything bigger than the Alize/Tracker.



Also there is the whole thing about not operating fixed wing AEW aircrafts, by the Cold War, RN was using Sea King based AEW so they never had a requirement to be able to launch E-2 sized planes

For most of the Cold War FAA operated the mighty and lovely Gannet in the AEW role. And KJ-600 should be named whatever the Chinese word for Gannet is.

 

[Rank Amateur]

For most of the Cold War FAA operated the mighty and lovely Gannet in the AEW role. And KJ-600 should be named whatever the Chinese word for Gannet is.

View attachment 173565

"And KJ-600 should be named whatever the Chinese word for Gannet is."

The KJ-600 design is too conventional to be worthy of the "Gannet" name. I previously suggested "Puffin" in a November 2025 post, quoted below:

I've always thought a suitable name for the KJ-600 would be "Puffin."

Something about the forward-fuselage shape and proportions reminds me of the bird (more specifically, the Atlantic species). See photos of the KJ-600 (lifted from by78's post here) and Atlantic puffin below.

View attachment 164473View attachment 164474

 

[johncliu88]

Another front look on land base.

 

[Gloire_bb]

Interesting, so it's not possible for the KJ-600 to take off from type 002&001?

It likely is, but if you'll have engine out during take off - you're done for.
If you want AWACS for STOBAR - you can have it, but look at Yak-44 engines and specifically their take off power rating.
Everything comes at a price.

 

[4Tran]

It likely is, but if you'll have engine out during take off - you're done for.
If you want AWACS for STOBAR - you can have it, but look at Yak-44 engines and specifically their take off power rating.
Everything comes at a price.

I think it's highly unlikely that a proper AWACS plane will ever operate off of Liaoning and Shandong. I suspect that they'll get some sort of unmanned AEW aircraft instead. Sure, they won't be able to do any control, but having a big radar up there will still be very useful.

 

[sheogorath]

I think it's highly unlikely that a proper AWACS plane will ever operate off of Liaoning and Shandong. I suspect that they'll get some sort of unmanned AEW aircraft instead. Sure, they won't be able to do any control, but having a big radar up there will still be very useful.

Doesn't China still have the Ka-31 with AEW radars?. Would be a fit with an upgraded local radar to fill in, if it provides better performance than Liaoning and Shandong's own radars.

 

[SAC]

They'll use the Z-18J.

 

[plawolf]

If they really wanted to, it would be fairly straightforward to just strap on some rockets and do rocket assisted take offs from the waist.

But in reality, it’s likely that in any carrier vs carrier combat deployment, the PLAN will opt to pair up the Liaoning and Shandong with a the Fujian and future nuclear supercarrier to achieve 1+1>2 effectiveness. For anything less, helicopter AEW would be sufficient.

 

[wuguanhui]

I think it would be more efficient to pair a 001 or 002 with a modified 076 to lose the well deck for extra hangar space. Load the 001/002 with fighters only, while using the 076 for AEW, ASW helicopters and drones.
Or perhaps even keep the well deck if they want to launch submersible drones from it.

 

[4Tran]

Doesn't China still have the Ka-31 with AEW radars?. Would be a fit with an upgraded local radar to fill in, if it provides better performance than Liaoning and Shandong's own radars.

They do, but helicopter based AEW solutions suck. Helicopters can't carry a large radar, they're slow, they have low service ceilings, poor loiter times, and there isn't space for many operators. They're better than nothing but fixed wing AEW is vastly better.