--- title: "Our First Clear Look At China’s KJ-600 Carrier-Based Radar Plane’s Nose" date: "2022-07-25" modified: "2022-07-25" authors: - name: "Emma Helfrich" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/emma-helfrich.md" url: "https://www.twz.com/our-first-clear-look-at-chinas-kj-600-carrier-based-radar-planes-nose" categories: - "Air" - "Airborne Radar" - "Airborne Sensors" - "Around The Globe" - "Carriers" - "China" - "Indo-Pacific" - "Kuznetsov Class (and variants)" - "Liaoning (16)" - "Navies" - "News & Features" - "People's Liberation Army Navy (China)" - "Sea" --- # Our First Clear Look At China’s KJ-600 Carrier-Based Radar Plane’s Nose ![]() A photo has emerged on social media offering the clearest look yet of the nose and nose section of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early-warning (AEW) aircraft. The snapshot surfaced around the same time as a video that reportedly shows the prototype undergoing flight tests [over the city of Xi'an, where the aircraft is built.]() These developments all come a little over a month after the launch of China’s new domestically built [Type 003 aircraft carrier *Fujian*]()*,* signaling the introduction of a new carrier air wing which the KJ-600 is expected to be a key component of. China’s KJ-600 initially began flight trials in the fall of 2020 and is being developed by the Xi’an Aircraft Company. It is a twin turboprop aircraft that is at least outwardly *very* similar to the [U.S. Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye](). Like the E-2, the KJ-600 is also designed for a crew of four to six and features a large radar above the fuselage. ![]() *KJ-600 on the ramp of the Xi'an Aircraft Company plant in March of 2022. *Credit: Google Earth** ![]() *KJ-600 on the ramp of the Xi'an Aircraft Company plant in March of 2022. *Credit: Google Earth** While the new static shot of the KJ-600’s nose and cockpit configuration certainly resembles the E-2, the video footage of the purported test flight over Xi'an city that came out a couple of days earlier, as well as many past images, also makes the aircraft's 'H'-style tail with several vertical stabilizers difficult to miss. Like the E-2, this is to provide stability even though airflow is blocked by the radar, especially at higher angles of attack as experienced during recovery on a carrier. https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1551304605010722817 https://twitter.com/louischeung_hk/status/1551033664904970240 As of right now, at least four prototypes of the KJ-600s are currently in existence, and possibly as many as six. Twitter user [@louischeung\_hk]() even shared a [brief video]() breaking down the recent KJ-600 sightings and noted that three of those prototypes have been spotted without the air-data probe used for flight testing that can be seen in the newest image. https://twitter.com/louischeung_hk/status/1546844924934361088 ![]() *Long before the KJ-600 showed up on the ramp in Xi'an, a mockup of it appeared on China's full-scale carrier replica. *Credit: Chinese Internet** In terms of the role that the KJ-600 will play in the air wing that the PLAN appears to be assembling for its newest *Fujian* aircraft carrier, it will be tasked with extending the carrier’s radar range dramatically, especially when it comes to spotting low-flying objects or even surface contacts, similar to how the E-2 operates. This is on top of working as a battlespace manager. Controllers onboard will vector aircraft as needed and work as central command and control and battlespace awareness elements for highly coordinated missions. The KJ-600's radar picture and other passive sensor systems' data will be linked back to the carrier group, and to other tactical aircraft, for real-time exploitation. Working as a central data-fusion and rebroadcasting node is also a good possibility. You can read all about E-2C operations [in this past feature of ours.]() ![]() *E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft conduct a test flight near St. Augustine, Florida. *Credit: Northrop Grumman** The Type 003's air wing will be far more diverse than its predecessors and will include J-35 stealth fighter jets as well as J-15 Flanker derivatives. The first high-resolution image of a prototype of the future J-35 fighter, which you can [read about in detail here](), appeared online last week and also comes amid China’s push to round out the fleet of its new Type 003 carrier. [Drones](), [including stealthy types](), will [also be a core part]() of *Fujian's* air wing, once it fully matures. ![]() *First high-resolution image of the Chinese J-35 stealth fighter jet prototype. *Credit: Chinese internet** The June launch of China’s newest Type 003 carrier also underscores the KJ-600’s compatibility with the vessel’s catapult-launch capability. As of right now, it is unlikely that the KJ-600 will fly from China’s existing [Type 001 *Liaoning*]() and [Type 002 *Shandong*]() carriers as those ships are equipped with ski-jump ramps. While the PLAN's active fleet of [Shenyang J-15 fighter jets]() can deal with this launch concept at lower gross weights, the turboprop-powered KJ-600 will likely require a catapult, of which Type 003 has three. ![]() *Launch ceremony for the PLAN's future Type 003 *Fujian* aircraft carrier. *Credit: Chinese internet** Scope for further development could even include the potential for KJ-600 to be adapted for other use cases, like carrier onboard delivery (COD), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), drone controller, or tanker roles. Such a developmental precedent exists in the [U.S. Navy’s C-2 Greyhound]() COD aircraft, which was derived from the E-2. Before that, the Navy also had carrier-based AEW, COD, and ASW aircraft like the E-1 Tracer, S-2 Tracker, and C-1 Trader that shared a core airframe. ![]() *A C-2A Greyhound assigned to the Providers of Fleet Logistics Combat Squadron (VRC) 30 lands on the flight deck of the *Nimitz*-class aircraft carrier USS *John C. Stennis*. *Credit: Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nolan Kahn/U.S. Navy** https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1128983098530631680 With the J-35, KJ-600, and catapult-capable J-15 aircraft all seemingly on their way to becoming fixtures of China’s new Type 003 *Fujian* aircraft carrier, the PLAN is setting itself up for a massive leap in naval capability. Still, we are years out from this becoming a reality, but when it does, it will change the nature of the PLAN's warfighting abilities forever. *Contact the author: Emma@thewarzone.com*