An Eye in the Sky-PLAAF KJ-2000 AWACs

                                                             KJ-2000 AWACS

China’s first indigenous KJ-2000 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft,
marks an important milestone in the PLA Air Force’s long march to a high-tech force.
KJ-2000 "Mainring" is the Airborne Warning and Control System comprising domestically designed electronics and radars installed on a modified Ilyushin Il-76 airframe.

The KJ-2000 development program started after the cancellation of the A-50I deal with Israel and Russia in July 2000, due to strong U.S. pressure regarding the Israeli radar that was to be mounted. China then went on to develop a domestic AWACS and the first aircraft made its maiden flight in 2003.
Four KJ-2000 aircraft have been identified so far, but production of new aircraft will likely be delayed, dependent on the acquisition of IL-76 airframes.

Due to unreliable external supplier sources, China has developed a backup known as the KJ-200 by installing a simplified system on board the Shaanxi Y-8. This aircraft has a similar configuration to that of the KJ-2000 and is characterized by the triple tail-fin configuration (one large and two small).

                                                           KJ-200 AEW&C

The radar was designed by the Research Institute of Electronic Technology (also more commonly known as the 14th Institute) at Nanjing, and it utilizes the experience gained from the 14th Institute's earlier indigenously developed Type H/LJG-346 SAPARS (Shipborne Active Phased Array Radar System) that was completed in 1998. The same Type H/LJG-346 SAPARS was also the predecessor of the active phased array radar system equipping the PLAN Lanzhou class destroyers. 

The Chinese AWACS has a phased array radar (PAR) carried in a round radome. Unlike the US AWACS aircraft, which rotate their rotodomes to give a 360 degree coverage, the radar antenna of the Chinese AWACS does not rotate. Instead, three PAR antenna modules are placed in a triangular configuration inside the round radome to provide a 360 degree coverage.

China is also working on a new version of Kj-2000, known as "KJ-3000" with improved next generation radar.

Associate Professor Ge Lide of the National Defence University said, ‘…As far as I know, this new AEW&C uses our homegrown Y-9 transport as the carrier. Compared with the Y-8 used by the KJ-2000, there is a significant increase in load, range and endurance.

‘At the same time, we see that it uses the large mushroom-shaped antenna of the KJ-2000 with long range and relatively strong ability of multi-target identification and tracking. It is entirely capable of both detecting targets and directing and commanding battle. In other words, the AEW&C can not only rapidly detect enemy targets coming to attack us from far away, but also distribute targets among our fighter jets and guide them to intercept and hit those targets in the air.’

The KJ-3000 will perhaps mainly guide air-to-surface combat, and thus provide a better basis for the combat capability of the Chinese air force. Judging by its functions, the KJ-2000 is an AEW&C that detects and gives guidance in air combat.