That's a nice catch. Also I don't think hangar is that limited in vertical space that it would warrant a design change of aircraft to fit in.
KJ-600 carrierborne AEWC thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
... and there are rumours this one appeared with a new number 7xxxx including minor changes on the original black-headed radar and an air-speed sensor (?) added.
Some suggest it to be the second test aircraft.
(Image via @Oneninety from Weibo)
Some suggest it to be the second test aircraft.
(Image via @Oneninety from Weibo)
IMO, not good enough to form an opinion. It's best to take a wait-and-see approach.
If the old tech demonstrator can test the electronic suite and system why not ? The final product will be faster to field.
I'm not sure the posted photo is new. It could be an old photo that someone had kept for sometime and then decided recently to post it.
IMHO, I believe the PLA-N will aim to get as close to hitting the ground running as possible. They already have the facilities to test as much as possible of the airframe and procedures regarding launch and recovery. Assuming the systems are different from other similar aircrafts of the same role, it can easily be tested out in some office building.
I'm expecting a few available pre-IOC variants along with trained pilots and crew but, IOC status won't be achieved as it requires a working catapult-capable carrier. The sooner it's ready, the more knowledge they have on handling this aircraft. They can even start using it for live exercises (as opposed to computer simulations if available) with other aircrafts. The only thing they cannot fully test out is actual carrier deck handling operations.
The only reason I can think of in continuing to fly the old tech demonstrator is to test out the engines, the avionics and maybe develop a flight simulator (assuming negligible differences in flight characteristics). By looking at how the Chinese developed the J-15 and J-20, I doubt the Chinese would test out a new airframe and engines together.
I think to be ready for actual service in 2-3 years, when 003 enters service, the new airframe will have to not only be flying, but also undergoing catapult launch test, arrested landing tests, experimental deck handling trials, now.
the Chinese have no shortage of experience building air worthy turboprops. So flying this thing is no big deal. What they have not had very much experience with is designing airframe structure stressed for carrier handling, folding wing mechanism, and aircraft equipment for carrier handling. If the airframe contains flaws that needs to rectified before service, it is unlikely to be with airworthiness, it will be much more likely stem from carrier handling requirementw.
the Chinese have no shortage of experience building air worthy turboprops. So flying this thing is no big deal. What they have not had very much experience with is designing airframe structure stressed for carrier handling, folding wing mechanism, and aircraft equipment for carrier handling. If the airframe contains flaws that needs to rectified before service, it is unlikely to be with airworthiness, it will be much more likely stem from carrier handling requirementw.
The question was not about whether the KJ-600 is currently flying now or not -- that shouldn't really be a topic of debate, because we have pictures and rumours telling us that it has made its maiden flight already.
The question is whether that specific picture is showing KJ-600 or a demonstrator or not (like JZY-01, though tbh I'm still not sure if the JZY-01 was a flying demonstrator).