KJ-600 carrierborne AEWC thread

Tirdent

Junior Member
Registered Member
An A320 is also 2.5x the size of a Q400, so the net difference in fuel burn is still large, but nowhere near that huge.

Turbofans are efficient enough that other factors can compel an AEW platform to prefer them over turboprops (ceiling, size, range). It's no coincidence that land-based AWACS tend to use turbofans while their carrier-borne counterparts prefer turboprops.

Fixed runways means the aircraft will have to self-deploy to the theatre of operations and typically orbit further from the forward base once there, both increasing the importance of long range. Thanks to greater power (enabling larger aircraft with more fuel capacity) and higher cruise speed (more distance covered per hour of fuel burn), this favours turbofans. Being able to fit a bigger radar in the larger platform and fly it higher is also nice to have.

On carriers, size is naturally limited by other constraints and the importance of long range is diminished when your air base is mobile. As a result, better endurance and superior STOL capability (reducing catapult and arresting gear loads) usually clinch the deal for the turboprop.

In the case of the Beriev concept, lack of a Russian turboprop with the output (5500+shp) needed probably played a role. There are two earlier Beriev patents for prop configs apparently based on the ~3000shp TV7-117, but they are both rather compromised. One is a twin with conformal arrays and correspondingly small, the other is Hawkeye-sized with a rotodome but four-engined. While remarkably pretty, the latter is very bulky for deck handling because the foldable wing fraction outboard of the engines is inevitably much smaller than on a twin.

On aesthetical grounds I was kinda hoping China would rope in Beriev as a design consultant and make KJ-600 a derivative of the quad with two larger engines :)
 
Last edited:

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
I hope the KJ-600 has a modern nose and modern front end

not like the nose and front of the ARJ-21

we need this AWACS to be a modern looking and fitting for 21st century

I am eager to know more details
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
The PLAN KJ-600 carrier borne AEW together with the Type 003 aircraft carrier and J-15 & J-35 fighters on the cover of later issue of the "Naval & Merchant Ships" magazine.

(Image via 舰船知识)


KJ-600 magazine cover.jpg
 

by78

General
The PLAN KJ-600 carrier borne AEW together with the Type 003 aircraft carrier and J-15 & J-35 fighters on the cover of later issue of the "Naval & Merchant Ships" magazine.

(Image via 舰船知识)


A higher resolution version plus the rest of the image set. The cutout illustration is to be taken with a grain of salt.

50462085832_63dd6e1c56_k.jpg

50461218398_e155aee1fb_k.jpg

50461917301_8d856b947d_k.jpg
 

Tam

Brigadier
Registered Member
A higher resolution version plus the rest of the image set. The cutout illustration is to be taken with a grain of salt.

50462085832_63dd6e1c56_k.jpg

50461218398_e155aee1fb_k.jpg

50461917301_8d856b947d_k.jpg


Antenna there looks like a copy of the E-2 Hawkeye's. Looks like UHF AESA.
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
And another major news :eek: ... the first clear images - ok, at least parts of it - of the XAC KJ-600 carrierborne AEW.

And the most important piece is this...

(Images via @angadow from Weibo)

KJ-600 clear - 20210101.jpg

KJ-600 clear - 20210101 front landing gear.jpg
 
Top