Recently, images of the Chinese aircraft-carrier capable KJ-600 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft surfaced on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.

Under development since the early 2010s, the KJ-600 AEW aircraft took its first flight in August 2020.

The images suggest a sharp resemblance to the American E-2D Hawkeye AEW aircraft. As and when the KJ-600 gets tested and deployed on the under-construction Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) carrier Fujian, it will give the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) a massive boost to Fujian’s aerial surveillance capabilities.

An AEW aircraft is essentially a plane that has a radar dish or a rotodome mounted on top of it, giving the AEW aircraft a greater field of view.

The field of view of ground-mounted or ship-mounted radar is limited due to the Earth’s curvature. A ship-mounted radar's range is limited to just 24 kilometres for the detection of targets that are flying very close to sea level (less than 5 metres height from the Earth’s surface).

Stealthy subsonic cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles utilise this vulnerability of ship-mounted or ground-mounted radars to evade detection and successfully destroy the designated targets.

That is where AEW aircraft come in. They can use their high-altitude perch to detect sea-skimming or low-flying cruise missiles.

Barring the E-2D Hawkeye in operation with the United States and French Navy, no country in the world operates AEW aircraft that can be launched from aircraft carriers at sea.

These highly capable aircraft can only be launched from aircraft carriers that have CATOBAR launch and recovery systems installed. Most navies, including the Indian Navy’s INS Vikrant and Vikramaditya, operate Short Take-Off, Barrier-Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) based aircraft carriers.

The Chinese PLAN operates two STOBAR aircraft carriers — Liaoning and Shandong — while the CATOBAR aircraft carrier Fujian is under construction.

Since the first flight of the KJ-600, close to six prototypes of the AEW aircraft are undergoing testing. There are no indications that the Chinese have flight-tested and recovered using a ground-based CATOBAR system; however, it cannot be confirmed due to the highly secretive nature of this programme.

It is expected that the AEW aircraft will be ready for flight testing from Fujian as and when the aircraft carrier starts its trials sometime in the mid-to-late 2024.

Developed by Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC), the 18.4 metres long and 24.4 metres wide aircraft is similar in design to the American E-2D Hawkeye AEW aircraft and is powered by a Chinese-made WJ-6C six-bladed turboprop engine.

Various experts have raised questions about whether the KJ-600 is a copy of the Hawkeye and is reverse-engineered using stolen blueprints of the Hawkeye.

Akin to the Hawkeye, the Chinese AEW has a one-sided rotating rotodome carrying an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, which is expected to have a surveillance range of more than 370 kilometres.

When the aircraft will start operations cannot be stated, however, the aircraft will be a big headache for the Indian Navy whenever Fujian starts patrolling the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

A group of KJ-600 aircraft will make the Fujian carrier battle group (CBG), if not immune, then tough to sneak attack. It will also give the CBG excellent situational awareness.

Coupled with datalinks installed at the belly, the KJ-600 can transmit target data in real-time to Chinese commanders.

They can sanitise a large amount of airspace surrounding the CBG, making it harder for both the Indian Air Force's (IAF’s) land-based Sukhoi Su-30 MKI jets armed with BrahMos-A air-launched cruise missile and the Indian Navy’s MiG-29Ks and Rafales (pending acquisition) operating from INS Vikrant or Vikramaditya to close the distance with the CBG in the event of war.

By the late 2020s or by early 2030s, it is projected by various experts that the Chinese will start operating one of its aircraft carriers permanently in the IOR in pursuit of challenging the pre-eminence of the Indian Navy in the IOR.

The Indian Navy should focus its efforts on inducting more submarines, both conventionally powered diesel-electric submarines and nuclear-powered attack submarines armed with extended-range BrahMos-ER or submarine-launched long-range anti-ship missiles, that can launch sneak attacks and withdraw from the area before detection.

Capabilities like anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs, a la, Chinese DF-21D), equipped with Maneuverable Reentry Vehicles (MaRV) [Agni-1P], represent another way to counter the Chinese Carrier Battle Groups that are expected to make forays into the IOR.

NS Vikrant

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