KJ-600 carrierborne AEWC thread

[weig2000]

Very significant development for China's carrier program. If and when F-31 or whatever its designation will be, takes its first flight sometime next year, we'll have pretty much all the elements in place for China's indigenous world-class carriers.

It will be quite some journey.

 

[halflife3]

Third, The French Navy operates E2C On the CdG.
View attachment 62935
The PRC would be third when and if they actually fly it off the deck of a carrier.
If you had said indigenous then yeah potentially second.

Some say that the E-2 is an AEW (Airborne Early Warning) and cannot be called an AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) since the plane's ability to effectively perform a command/control role is very limited. Command and battle management is still being done from the carrier and the Hawkeye's role is primarily to provide radar system enhancement and augmentation.
The E-3 Sentry is a proper AWACS since it carries a more sophisticated and powerful suite of systems and have 13-19 specialists operating the mission control systems compared to the E-2 Hawkeye's 2-3. This allows it enough to effectively perform an autonomous command / control role.

Also, China is not the second country to indigenously complete development of a carrier borne AEW aircraft. US is first, I believe UK is the second, China will become third once KJ-600 finish development.
Here are some pictures of the earlier carrier borne AEW aircraft:

TBM-3W Avenger, the first carrier borne AEW plane.


Fairey Gannet AEW.3, the first non-US developed carrier borne AEW plane.

 

[Intrepid]

That makes China the second country in the world with a flying fixed wing carrier based AWAC.

Don't forgett the

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.

 

[halflife3]

That makes China the second country in the world with a flying fixed wing carrier based AWAC.

I would like to add some more to my previous response that I forgot to add. Also for my previous response, I mistakenly quoted terran_empire, I was supposed to quote siegecrossbow.

Your statement is somewhat correct and incorrect. If you mean by China being the second country to develop indigenously an carrier AEW plane specifically for its role, then that is true. But if you mean by China being the second country to build carrier AEW aircraft, that is false. If you also mean by China being the second country to operate carrier AEW aircraft, that is also false.
(read from my previous response for explanation)

The Hawkeye is the first purpose built carrier AEW plane. All preceding carrier AEW planes are either modified/derived from previous existing non-AEW designs. KJ-600 would be second purpose built carrier AEW once it enters service.

 

[Blitzo]

Some say that the E-2 is an AEW (Airborne Early Warning) and cannot be called an AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) since the plane's ability to effectively perform a command/control role is very limited. Command and battle management is still being done from the carrier and the Hawkeye's role is primarily to provide radar system enhancement and augmentation.
The E-3 Sentry is a proper AWACS since it carries a more sophisticated and powerful suite of systems and have 13-19 specialists operating the mission control systems compared to the E-2 Hawkeye's 2-3. This allows it enough to effectively perform an autonomous command / control role.

Also, China is not the second country to indigenously complete development of a carrier borne AEW aircraft. US is first, I believe UK is the second, China will become third once KJ-600 finish development.
Here are some pictures of the earlier carrier borne AEW aircraft:

TBM-3W Avenger, the first carrier borne AEW plane.
View attachment 62939

Fairey Gannet AEW.3, the first non-US developed carrier borne AEW plane.
View attachment 62940

For the purposes of discussion I think the contemporary E-2C and D are considered to have the control capabilities to be deemed an AEW&C.
Obviously the command and battle management capabilities of larger land based AEW&C is greater in scope, but E-2C/D do have the requisite threshold to claim to have the "C" of AEW&C.

Whether the Gannet AEW (let alone the likes of Avenger) could be considered the equivalent of the carrierborne fixed wing AEW aircraft that emerged and were planned in the 1970s to now, imo is a dicey topic, let alone in context of other E-2 predecessor types like the E-1 Tracer, and whether they should be considered for the purposes of gauging KJ-600's milestone in terms of global carrierborne fixed wing AEW&C development.


That said, as interesting as this particular nuance is, there's probably going to be some additional KJ-600 photos and news forthcoming over the next few days so let's not dwell on this particular tangent too much.

 

[Intrepid]

The E-1 Tracer and E-2 Hawkeye were used to communicate directly with pilots and to direct them to possible enemy aircraft or targets on land. The other older AEW aircraft communicated with the CIC of their respective aircraft carriers.

The E-1 Tracer and E-2 Hawkeye had computer systems on board that could distinguish stationary from moving targets and provided a correspondingly processed radar image.

 

[halflife3]

Whether the Gannet AEW (let alone the likes of Avenger) could be considered the equivalent of the carrierborne fixed wing AEW aircraft that emerged and were planned in the 1970s to now, imo is a dicey topic, let alone in context of other E-2 predecessor types like the E-1 Tracer, and whether they should be considered for the purposes of gauging KJ-600's milestone in terms of global carrierborne fixed wing AEW&C development.

-edited-
Of course I agree but it is sort of like saying P-59 Airacomet cannot be considered a jet fighter since it can't go supersonic, fire missiles, carry radar, nor incorporate stealth technology like the latest F-22.
They certainly can be classified as such since they performed the role expected of a AEW of its time. Just like fighter jets, there are generations of AEW planes.

We can consider the Gannet AEW.3 and TBM-3W Avenger as 1st generation carrier borne AEW aircrafts. They carry a more rudimentary radar and do perform AEW roles. But the limitation of the their design and technology of that period meant performing a command / control role was out of the question.

This is where the 2nd generation carrier borne AEW aircraft comes in. They carry a significantly more powerful radar electronics suite and incorporate an on board mission control center with a crew of dedicated control operators. This advancement also allows the aircraft to a certain degree perform command and control functions (although not as good as the more specialized AWACS like EC-121 and E-3).
The E-1 Tracer, E-2 Hawkeye and upcoming KJ-600 would be in this category. The Yak-44 would have also been in this category had it been put to service.

And taking from what Intrepid just pointed out, the E-1 and E-2 represented a generational leap from the previous carrier AEW planes due to these new capabilities.

 

[asif iqbal]

Wow wow wow

amazing

what a milestone

now let’s wait for clear photos

 

[alexgalante]

First test flight of China's Xian KJ-600 carrier-borne AEW. The long awaited flight happened on 29/08. The KJ-600 will be deployed on the Type 003 aircraft carrier, currently under construction in Shanghai. The KJ-600 is a twin-engine folding wing aircraft made by XIAC.

 

[Deino]

First test flight of China's Xian KJ-600 carrier-borne AEW. The long awaited flight happened on 29/08. The KJ-600 will be deployed on the Type 003 aircraft carrier, currently under construction in Shanghai. The KJ-600 is a twin-engine folding wing aircraft made by XIAC.

This is an old image of an E-2D

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