China’s new domestically developed Y-20 early warning jet spotted in the air

There have been reports for years that a Y-20-based AEW&C aircraft, often colloquially referred to as the KJ-3000, was in the works. It is currently believed that such an aircraft would be based on the uprated Y-20B variant, which first came onto the market in 2020. The basic Y-20A cargo jet developed by state-owned Xi’an Aircraft Company (XAC) first flew in 2013. An aerial refueling tanker variant of the Y-20, also known as Y-20U and YY-20B, is also now in service.

The images of the apparent KJ-3000 that have been circulating online since yesterday offer a limited look at its configuration. It features a large circular radome at the top of the rear end of the fuselage, as is common on many AEW&C aircraft, including the existing Chinese KJ-2000 as well as the Russian A-50 Mainstay (also based on the Il-76). ) and US E-3 Sentry.

From what can now be seen, the new Y-20-based design may feature additional large domes on top of the forward fuselage and under the tail. Both the KJ-2000 and A-50 have additional domes on and under the forward fuselage that are connected to their extensive communications facilities, another important component of any AEW&C aircraft. The KJ-3000 could also have other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in addition to its radar.

In particular, it remains to be seen how exactly the KJ-3000’s main radome might be configured. Unlike the A-50 and E-3’s rotating main radomes, those on China’s existing KJ-2000 and KJ-500 turboprop radomes are permanently mounted and use three separate Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antennas. to ensure 360 ​​degree coverage.

Whatever radar and other mission systems the KJ-3000 may have, it would be beneficial for China to have new AEW&C aircraft that would use a larger, jet-powered airframe. There are only four operational KJ-2000s in existence and even acquiring them was a saga, as you can read more about them here.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Navy (PLAAF and PLAN) have fielded large numbers of increasingly powerful domestically developed turboprop AEW&Cs over the years, as you can read more about in the past TWZ Special feature. However, a Y-20 based type would offer advantages in speed, range and mission time. It would also be able to fly at higher altitudes to provide a better location for its radar. This is very important, especially for the ability to detect and track low-flying aircraft and missiles that radars below may not be able to “see” due to terrain and other factors

Additionally, the KJ-3000’s larger crew would be better able to handle longer operational durations and more complex missions. If the Chinese were to equip the aircraft with aerial refueling capability, it would further extend its range and overall mission time. Versions of the KJ-200 and KJ-500 AEW&C turboprop aircraft with aerial refueling probes were developed.

As a fully locally developed platform, the KJ-3000 would be easier to service, maintain and upgrade compared to the KJ-2000. The main rings are believed to be costly to operate and tied to supply chains in Russia. A Y-20-based design could even provide a possible route to the export market. China offers AEW&C turboprop aircraft for sale on the open market and has sold examples to Pakistan.

AEW&C aircraft are generally important elements of any modern air force. This is particularly true for the PLA, which continues to expand the size and scope of its tactical and strategic aviation fleets. Aircraft like the KJ-3000 help Chinese forces expand and support anti-access and area denial bubbles, including around the mainland, Taiwan and the hotly contested South China Sea, as well as power projection further afield.

As TWZ has written in the past:

“In particular, the proliferation of Chinese AEW&C aircraft suggests changing visions of future warfare that include not only the defense of the People’s Republic but also increasing power projection over greater distances and into a greater variety of regions, including the highly strategic South China Sea. “The Chinese military clearly values ​​its AEW&C capabilities highly, as it enables them not only airborne surveillance, including a vital look-down capability, but to a lesser extent maritime surveillance.”

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“Having such a large and growing fleet of AEW&C platforms and their distinctive characteristics also point to how these aircraft could actually be used in a possible future conflict, perhaps one involving the U.S. military. With this kind of capacity, China should not only be able to cover the approaches to its most strategically important areas, but also operate from more dispersed and even austere bases. In particular, smaller types such as the turboprop-powered KJ-200 and KJ-500 series are particularly well suited to these types of operations and are regularly seen on China’s island outposts and are routinely deployed in the highly strategic Taiwan Strait.”

“Production and delivery of the KJ-500 – the People’s Republic of China’s most advanced airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft – continued apace, complementing earlier KJ-2000 Mainring and KJ-200 Moth variants,” according to the Pentagon’s latest annual report on military developments in China, which it published earlier this month. “These aircraft enhance the PLAAF’s ability to detect, track and target threats in varied conditions, in larger quantities and at longer distances. It expands the reach of the PLA’s Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) network.”

U.S. military officials have also in the past highlighted the importance of Chinese AEW&C developments, particularly in controlling increasingly powerful fighter aircraft armed with ever-longer-range air-to-air missiles.

“We’re finding that they’re flying it (the J-20 stealth fighter) pretty well,” Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, then chief of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), said in 2022. “We recently had – I wouldn’t call it. “a deployment – where we got relatively close to the J-20s along with our F-35s in the East China Sea, and we are relatively impressed with the command and control that was associated with the J-20s.”

“Some of their very long-range air-to-air missiles are supported by this KJ-500,” added Wilsbach, now chief of Air Combat Command.

There is certainly more to be learned about the KJ-3000, but it is a logical addition to the PLA’s existing AEW&C fleets that should provide valuable additional capabilities.

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