The newest photographs of China’s KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early-warning (AEW) plane have surfaced on Chinese language social media.
Launched in March 2024, the picture reveals the baseline design of the Individuals’s Liberation Military Navy’s (PLAN) KJ-600, showcasing its gray colour scheme and distinctive options harking back to the U.S. Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye.
Developed by the Xi’an Plane Firm, the KJ-600 commenced flight trials within the fall of 2020. The plane, powered by twin turboprop engines, boasts a spacious fuselage accommodating a crew of 4 to 6 and is supplied with a big radar dome positioned above the fuselage.
– ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW –
Characterised by its high-straight wing configuration, quad-fin tailplane, tricycle touchdown gear, and a large dorsal radome suspected to accommodate an AESA-type radar system.
Lastly some clear photographs of a gray KJ-600 AEW.
(Picture through @琴石2022 from Weibo pic.twitter.com/AQVyvmahuA
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) March 23, 2024
Regardless of ongoing flight testing, there was no visible affirmation of KJ-600s present process catapult launch or arrested restoration testing from land-based amenities. Nevertheless, with prototype flight testing progressing and this system doubtlessly nearing low-rate preliminary manufacturing, the KJ-600’s integration into carrier-based operations seems imminent.
Satellite tv for pc imagery evaluation means that the KJ-600 possesses an prolonged wingspan of 24.4 meters and a size of 18.4 meters, aligning with expectations for a compact carrier-based plane design.
In late 2023, stories indicated “intensive trials” involving a minimum of 4 to 6 prototypes.