PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread

Deino

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@Deino @huitong any count on the current KJ-500 in service?

Not 100% for sure since not all numbers are known, but within the 26th Division the highest number I know is 30175 and as such no. 15 (even if there is also a no. 21 know, but I think this was for the old numbering system)
For the PLAN it's a bit more difficult, since for the 9th NAD only 2 are know, (maybe reassigned to other units?), for the 3rd NAD I know up to six and the 1st NAD three are known but since mid-2019 some started to carry a new 2-digit serial numbers.

Confirmed only by numbers are 11 within the PLAAF and 9 within the PLAN-
 

stannislas

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Not 100% for sure since not all numbers are known, but within the 26th Division the highest number I know is 30175 and as such no. 15 (even if there is also a no. 21 know, but I think this was for the old numbering system)
For the PLAN it's a bit more difficult, since for the 9th NAD only 2 are know, (maybe reassigned to other units?), for the 3rd NAD I know up to six and the 1st NAD three are known but since mid-2019 some started to carry a new 2-digit serial numbers.

Confirmed only by numbers are 11 within the PLAAF and 9 within the PLAN-
I see, so if we filled up the gap between numbers, like 30071, 30172, 30173, 30174 for the PLAAF, we could loosely estimate the total number would be somewhere around 25?
now adding the 3rd? batch 12 into the service, and another 10 for KJ-200 and KJ-2000, ~50 in total... which is about half the size of the US fleet...

given the all domestic C919 is unlikely to be introduced to PLA in the next few years, I feel there would be at least another batch or two KJ-500 in the future until maybe the next-gen coming
 

crash8pilot

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50 AWACS/AEW? :oops: do they really need that many?
Considering how much land mass China makes up (especially the length of our coast line) as well as the area of the South China Sea the PLA needs to cover - most certainly.

Plus the PLA could use the extra planes for redundancy (provide cover should they need to take a plane down for long-term scheduled maintenance), as well as to provide planes for crew training (operational conversion unit). It'll also give the PLA the flexibility to ramp up operations quickly should a major conflict break out and the OPTEMPO picks up.
 
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Blitzo

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I don't think this has been posted here yet.

This looks like at last an image internally of KQ-200's four sonar rotary launchers, in the exact configuration we expect them to be.

(Unsure about specific context here, seems like here the aircraft was ad hoc used to transport someone via a stretcher).

ElT0VaBVcAA55IM - Copy.jpg
 
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