Defence Industry

Look Long, Look Deep: China’s Airborne Warning and Control Systems
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Issue Vol. 32.3 Jul-Sep 2017 | Date : 18 Dec , 2017

KJ-500

China, it seems has major long-term plans for future AWACS. Future Chinese AWACS are going to be very cost competitive since major development work has already been done. Dr Wang says, “The KJ-2000 costs billions of RMB and some new systems will spend only thousands or even millions of RMB. Being a large country, in future, China will need more AEW&C systems. We can develop lots of variants or upgraded version from present systems.” With such competitive pricing, China is sure to capture the export market for AWACS. Many countries who would not like to get into the high costs and political strings attached to an American or European AWACS or the costs of a Russian or Israeli system may find the cheaper Chinese AWACS a better option.

Since the 1990s, China has been on a quest for indigenously manufacturing modern systems for its military. Its success in mounting airborne warning and control radars on aircraft has been a major achievement of the domestic industry.

Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) provides the air force commander the ability to see air activity from low to high levels, deep inside enemy territory. It is like having an Air Defence Direction Centre (ADDC) in the air with a clear view of what is happening up to great distances, thus meeting the age-old requirement of commanders to know what is happening on the “other side of the hill”. The early warning from an AWACS gives a definite advantage to the commander in air battle management and guides friendly fighters to intercept enemy aircraft well in time before the weapon release line. AWACS has changed the way war is conducted. As a force multiplier, AWACS has become so critical in modern war that the side which does not have it will suffer from a huge asymmetry right from the preparatory stage to start of the shooting war.

Chinese AWACS use Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology which is more advanced than the technology used in AWACS built by USA and Russia…

The Chinese realised the importance of these platforms and after years of effort, they developed their indigenous fleet of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and AWACS aircraft consisting of four Kong Jing-2000 (KJ-2000), four KJ-200 and two KJ-500 in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) as per Military Balance 2017. The PLA Navy has its own small fleet of AEW aircraft on the Y-8/Y-9 platform. In addition, China has inducted a new indigenous heavy transport aircraft, the Y-20, and while it has not yet been announced, it can be speculated that this will be the platform for the future AWACS to replace the KJ-2000. This article traces the history and development of China’s AWACS/AEW projects and briefly discusses the AWACS limitations for the PLAAF against the IAF.

Background

China’s first attempt to make an indigenous AWACS dates back to 1969. This project called the Kong Jing-1 (KJ-1), was undertaken on a 1950s-designed Soviet TU-4 Bull aircraft. The project was not successful since China did not have the technology, at that time, to overcome ground clutter problems. In airborne radar, the signal return from ground echoes is stronger than the target signal and the radar system must be designed to pick up targets through the clutter. The Chinese were unable to do this and consequently, the project was abandoned.

Since then, China had been trying to purchase or develop an airborne warning and control capability. In the 1970s, relations between China and USA improved with the express intention of jointly opposing the then Soviet Union as their common enemy. Taking advantage of this situation, China began exploring the possibility of purchase of E-3A Sentry AWACS from USA. This subject was taken up by the Chinese during President Reagan’s visit to China in 1984 but nothing came of it. The Chinese having failed in their attempts to get the E-3A, looked for AWACS from Russia, UK and Israel. The Russian product on IL-76 airframe was rejected as its radar performance did not meet their requirements.

The Chinese also negotiated with a number of Western firms to jointly produce an indigenous AWACS. These firms were Westinghouse (USA), Marconi (UK), Thorn-EMI (UK) and Dornier GmbH (then FRG) but there was no fruitful outcome. The only success China had was with the development of a maritime AEW by its Harbin Aircraft Corporation. Harbin developed an AEW prototype by installing the Thorn-EMI Skymaster radar on the Y-12 Turbo Panda. A small number of these aircraft were used for maritime surveillance. But they still did not have an AWACS. The Chinese wanted to purchase the Nimrod from UK but this project was cancelled by the British. Thus, having been left with no choice, the Chinese decided to develop an AWACS in collaboration with Israel.

In 1992, China and Israel got into an initial agreement for joint development of the AWACS. After four years, in 1996, both sides signed an official contract which defined cooperation in developing an AWACS based on the IL-76 platform. Initially, Israel provided the modified Phalcon radar with antennas mounted on the aircraft fuselage and nose dome. This configuration could provide only 260°coverage which was not acceptable to the Chinese. The Chinese wanted full 360°coverage and suggested stationary radome on top of the fuselage with phased array planar antenna technology. But the Israeli plan to sell AWACS technology ran into rough weather in 2000, when the US forced Israel to cancel the deal. The US did not want AWACS technology to fall in the hands of the Chinese. They saw this deal as a threat to Taiwan and to US interests in the region.

The KJ-200 finally made its debut in 2009 and was inducted in the PLAAF and the PLANAF…

The Chinese were obviously not pleased with this development; but they were determined to have an AWACS. The cancellation of the deal speeded up China’s indigenous efforts. Although the Israelis had removed all Phalcon radar components, the Chinese managed to get some of the technology from them. The two main things the Chinese learnt from the Israelis was firstly, the Transmit/Receive (T/R) module and secondly, the production process for manufacturing the composite material radome with proper specifications to control quality. Israel also helped China to design radar structure based on data bus structure. This knowledge, it seems, enabled the Chinese to develop the AWACS in quite a short time frame. According to Wang Xiaomo, Executive Vice President, China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology, a leading designer of China’s AWACS project, China spent, “only five years to manufacture its own AEW&C system.” The Chinese also overcame other technological challenges in the development phase like design of electromagnetic compatibility to avoid radio interference with other systems in the aircraft, data link with ground stations and target pick up in dense clutter environment over mountainous terrain.

Kong Jing-2000

In November 2003, China produced its first AWACS radar on the IL-76 platform, labelled as the KONG JING -2000 (KJ-2000). This aircraft entered service with the PLAAF in 2007. Chinese AWACS use Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology which is more advanced than the technology used in AWACS built by USA and Russia. The radar in the American E-3C and Russian Beriev A-50U carry out 360-degree azimuth scanning by using older technology of mechanically rotating the antenna. On the other hand, in the KJ-2000 there is no rotating antenna. The scanning in azimuth and elevation is done electronically. Three flat aerials are mounted in the radome on top of the fuselage in an equilateral triangle. Each aerial electronically scans 120 degrees, thus covering full 360 degrees in azimuth. While not many details of the KJ-2000 are available, the radar can be expected to have a maximum detection range of 400 km.

The IL-76 platform was chosen because the Chinese did not have any other choice since Western countries were not willing to sell any platform to them and no comparable indigenous aircraft was available. As per Dr Wang Xiaomo, procuring additional IL-76 platforms also became a problem. In an interview, he said, “Russia doesn’t want to sell China IL-76 after the birth of KJ-2000.” Due to shortage of IL-76 aircraft, the KJ-2000 programme ran into delays and at present, only four have entered service with the PLAAF. To overcome these problems, the Chinese developed another smaller version of the AWACS called KJ-200, based on the Y-8 (Chinese copy of Russian An-12) platform.

The Y-20 will be a major boost for the PLAAF’s strategic and early warning capabilities…

KJ-200

The KJ-200 with its balance beam-like radar on the back of its Yun-8 airframe is a smaller AEW system which supplements the larger AWACS cover. The planar antenna on the fuselage is dual side linear-shape Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar similar to the Swedish Ericsson PS-890 Erieye. This shape of the antenna cannot provide coverage in front over the nose or in the rear, but it will provide broadside 120° coverage on each side. The limitation of the 120° coverage is because the highest value, which can be achieved for the Field of View (FOV) of a planar phased array antenna, is 120°. This limitation is there in the Erieye also.

The KJ-200 project was started in 2005, but it received a major setback in 2006, when it crashed in Guangde County in Anhui province of China, killing all 40 people onboard. It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the PLAAF but it did not deter the Chinese from continuing their development work in this field. The KJ-200 finally made its debut in 2009 and was inducted in the PLAAF and the PLANAF.

KJ-500

China has developed another AWACS aircraft, the KJ-500, which entered service in 2015. The KJ-500 seems to be China’s next generation early warning aircraft and will replace the KJ-200. The KJ-500 is based on China’s new transport aircraft, the Y-9, manufactured by Shaanxi Aircraft Company. The Y-9 is an improved version of the Y-8. It is a four-engine turboprop powered by improved Chinese WJ-6C turboprop engines and has a cruising speed of 550 kmph and range of 5,700 km. It has more advanced avionics and has a “glass cockpit”. The aeroplane is similar to the American C-130J Hercules.

The Chinese have claimed that KJ-500 has a phased array antenna with AESA technology similar to the KJ-2000 AWACS. There is no rotating antenna in the KJ-500. The scanning in azimuth and elevation is done electronically as in the KJ-2000. Since the Y-9 is a turboprop aircraft, its cruising altitude is lower than the jet engine KJ-2000. Consequently, the KJ-500 detection range will be less than that of the KJ-2000. The KJ-500 looks similar to the ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle AWACS which China supplied to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 2011. However, the radar in the KJ-500 is more advanced. The Chinese have not revealed details about the KJ-500, but its maximum detection range can be expected to be around 300 km.

ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle

The ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle is based on a Y-8 F600 airframe and built by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation. The radar and onboard systems were developed by China Electronics Technology Corporation (CETC). In 2008, the Pakistan signed a contract with China for four ZDK-03 AWACS systems to be built as per specifications and requirements of the PAF. The first aircraft was rolled out for testing in November 2010, and delivered in October 2011. The ZDK-03 radar has an electronically steered antenna based on the KJ-2000 radar which electronically scans the airspace 360 degrees in azimuth. The radar antenna is installed in a radome mounted on the dorsal side of the airframe. Performance of the ZDK-03 radar is expected to be better than the one in the KJ-200 but since both the ZDK-03 and KJ-200 are mounted on turboprop aircraft. They are likely to be operating at lower heights compared to the jet engine powered KJ-2000.

China’s AWACS Capabilities against India’s

Against the PLAAF’s ten AWACS/AEW aircraft, the IAF has three AWACS with two more in the pipeline. In addition, the IAF has inducted one Embraer EMB-145 AEW&C in February 2017, and has two more in the pipeline. The rectangular dual side airborne radar on this aircraft has been developed indigenously by DRDO and is similar to China’s KJ-200.

China’s new heavy transport aircraft, the Y-20, has been inducted in the PLAAF in June 2016…

As in the case of the Chinese KJ-2000, IAF AWACS are also based on the IL-76/A-50EI airframe but the Phalcon radar is from Israel. The airborne radar in the IAF and Chinese AWACS is of similar design with both having Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. Both the PLAAF and the IAF will suffer performance limitations of the AWACS in the mountains since undulations in the terrain will create detection problems for aircraft masked behind the hills. The laws of physics are universally applicable and requirement of Line of Sight condition has to be met for radar pick up.

The PLAAF AWACS aircraft will have to get airborne from bases at lower heights which are very far from the India-China border. Operating from such long distances will reduce their time on station. Secondly, the AWACS will be at least 150 km from the border in own territory for its own safety so that it can slide back safely when under threat from IAF fighter aircraft. Another limitation of deploying AWACS in the mountains is that due to terrain masking, AWACS may not be able to pick up any attackers heading towards it. The attackers can easily launch sneak attack taking advantage of hill shadows in the area.

China’s Future AWACS Plans

China, it seems has major long-term plans for future AWACS. Future Chinese AWACS are going to be very cost competitive since major development work has already been completed. Dr Wang says, “The KJ-2000 costs billions of RMB and some new systems will spend only thousands or even millions of RMB. Being a large country, in future, China will need more AEW&C systems. We can develop lots of variants or upgraded version from present systems.” With such competitive pricing, China is sure to capture the export market for AWACS. Many countries who would not like to get into the high costs and political strings attached to an American or European AWACS or the costs of a Russian or Israeli system, may find the cheaper Chinese AWACS a better option.

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China’s new heavy transport aircraft, the Y-20, has been inducted in the PLAAF in June 2016. Once these aircraft are available in sufficient numbers, they are likely to be developed as a platform for AWACS radar. Designed and built by Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC), the Y-20 first flew in January 2013 and the Zhuhai Air Show-2014 was the first time it was on public display. The Y-20 is powered by four Russian Saturn D-30KP2 (same engine as in IL-76), turbofan engines and has a maximum payload capacity of 66 tonne which places it between the larger Boeing C-17 Globemaster (77 tonne) and the lesser capacity IL-76 (43 tonne). The Chinese government newspaper Global Times, quoting Wen Wei Po, a military expert, said “China’s air force needs at least 100 large transport aircraft of the Y-20 class to enhance its global power projection ability. Another 90 are expected to be modified into tanker aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft and early warning and control aircraft.”

Another report by China’s National Defence University (NDU) has recommended a fleet of 400 Y-20s for the PLAAF which will include variants for various roles. In the coming years, the Y-20 will be a major boost for the PLAAF’s strategic and early warning capabilities. China’s other plans are to develop conformal phased array airborne radar. If China can make a breakthrough in this technology, it will be a big leap forward for the nation in the regime of advanced technologies.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Gp Capt Ravinder Singh Chhatwal

Senior Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies. He is the author of the book, The Chinese Air Threat: Understanding the Reality and has written extensively on military subjects. He is pursuing his doctorate from JNU, New Delhi.

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