wow, refueling rod and WS-20 engine
PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread
- Thread starter Sczepan
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Perfect. That's a massive dual-face rotodome, similar to the ones in the middle and right that we saw late last year at a certain radar test facility.
A refueling probe above the cockpit too, which is a first for the Y-20 family. Implies expanded range and endurance for this AEW&C aircraft.
But what's with the mosaic on the plane's underbelly lol?
Could be more wacky arrays that the first guy posting it doesn't wanna get into trouble with.
What if that thing isn't rotating and in the end we get 4 faces with two extra on side of fuselage, just saying.
Didn't see much of large grey/dark-colored patches that would indicate the presence of conformal radar arrays on the KJ-3000's fuselage in this photo, though.
Of course, the photo quality leaves a lot to be desired, so I think we'll have to wait for much better quality photos.
At this rate I'll be impressed if a single B-21/cruise missile can make it through.
Since the final piece on top should be a star... so the shape of H2O must be like this:
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Going by Huitong's, the following number of AEW&C aircraft have been ID'ed in service:
-KJ-200G: 5x with PLAAF
-KJ-200H: 6x with PLAN
-KJ-500: 24x with PLAAF
-KJ-500A: 8x with PLAAF
-KJ-500H: 15x with PLAN
-KJ-700H: perhaps 1x entered service with PLAN in June
-KJ-2000: 4x with PLAAF
-Y-8J: 4x with PLAN
For a grand total of *at least* 66/67 AEW&C aircraft currently in active service. For comparison's sake, the U.S. has about 100 split between the USAF and the USN. And additional KJ-700/H are being produced, whereas KJ-600 and KJ-3000 will enter service in the coming years. And then there's the matter of the WZ-9 UAV, which appears to have entered production and would constitute the world's first unmanned AWACS.
Summing up, I expect China to pass the U.S. as the owner of the largest AEW&C fleet in the world within a few years.
Speaking of which, what do we have here?
Video of said WZ-9 AEW UAV in flight:
According to @万年炎帝, the WZ-9 has already been deployed (i.e. in active service). China should definitely manufacture many hundreds of these type(s) of UAVs to supplement her manned AEW&C fleets.
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2x rotating array of maximum diameter.
If it's dual-band one(not unlikely), then a-100.cn was just born
A-100? China's KJ-3000 is leagues ahead.
Not an exaggeration to say that the A-100 is only near the level and capability of the earliest KJ-500 units, let alone KJ-700 and KJ-3000.