Shaanxi KJ-200

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KJ-200
Shaanxi KJ-200.jpg
KJ-200
General information
Type Airborne early warning and control
National origin China
Manufacturer Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation
Primary user People's Liberation Army Air Force
People's Liberation Army Navy
Number built11
History
Introduction date2007
First flight2005
Developed from Shaanxi Y-8

The KJ-200 (NATO reporting name: Moth [1] ) is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation [2] of China. It is a variant of the Shaanxi Y-8 military transport aircraft and also called the Y-8W. Enthusiasts called it the GX-5. [3]

Contents

Design and development

Development began in 2002 after the United States blocked the sale of the Israeli EL/W-2090 Phalcon radar to China. [4] According to Science and Technology Daily, Ouyang Shaoxiu, Shaanxi's chief designer, was the program's chief designer, and 80% of the Y-8 was modified to create the KJ-200. [5]

The primary sensor is a JY-06 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar [4] mounted in a "plank" or 'balance beam" housing above the fuselage; [6] [4] the configuration resembles various uses of the Ericsson Erieye radar system. [7]

The aircraft's first flight was in January 2005. The second aircraft crashed in 2006 due to wing icing; the crash "almost derailed" the program. [4]

Operational history

The KJ-200 aircraft entered service with the People's Liberation Army in 2007. [8] Its first official public appearance was at the 2009 Chinese National Day Parade. [9]

In February 2017, a US Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion and a KJ-200 inadvertently passed within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of each other over the South China Sea. [10] [11]

Variants

KJ-200
Base variant.
KJ-200A
Modified KJ-200 with revised nose section and new electronics. First observed in December 2016. [12]
"KJ-200AG"
Unofficial designation for KJ-200A with inflight air refueling probe. [12]
KJ-200H
Modified KJ-200 for PLA Navy. [12]
KJ-200B
Adds satellite communications and new electronics. [8] First observed in 2016. Entered service in 2023. [12]

Operators

Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  People's Republic of China

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

  1. 1 2 The International Institute for Strategic Studies 2025, p. 245.
  2. ↑ Erickson 2014, p. 91.
  3. ↑ Dahm 2020, p. 6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Wood 2020, p. 5.
  5. ↑ "预警机总师欧阳绍修：运-8被大胆修改了80%(1)". china.com (in Chinese). Science and Technology Daily. 13 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Dahm 2020, p. 7.
  7. ↑ Erickson 2014, p. 95.
  8. 1 2 "China assessing improved KJ-200 special mission aircraft". Janes. 10 February 2023. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024.
  9. ↑ Wood 2020, p. 33.
  10. ↑ "U.S., China military planes come inadvertently close over South China Sea". Reuters . 10 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Browne, Ryan (10 February 2017). "Chinese and US aircraft in 'unsafe' encounter". CNN . Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Newdick, Thomas; Rupprecht, Andreas (5 April 2023). "China's Massive Fleet Of Radar Planes And The Strategy Behind It". The War Zone.
  13. ↑ The International Institute for Strategic Studies 2025, p. 246.

Sources

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