TAIPEI – A government-run media service, Xinhua, reported that the No. 38 Research Institute under the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) designed the radar platform and system for the new KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft.
The Institute is actually known as the East China Research Institute of Electronic Engineering (ECRIEE) in Hefei, Anhui Province. It is one of the numerous institutes under the CETC umbrella (CETC-38). ECRIEE works closely with the Hefei-based Department of Radar Armaments under the National Remote Sensing Center of China.
KJ-2000 AEWC, 2014 Zhuhai Airshow
Photo Credit: Wendell Minnick
Xinhua quoted Xiong Qunli, CETC chairman, as confirming the information in a March 14 article. The radar is attached to the top of the aircraft in a round radome similar to the Northrop E-2 Hawkeye. The KJ-500 is a fixed-wing Y-9 four-turboprop aircraft.
Past Western media outlets have reported the active electronic phased-array radar was developed by the No. 14 Institute (Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology/CETC-14).
China has several AEWC aircraft now in service, including the KJ-200 equipped with a balance beam radar system and the KJ-2000 (see photo) with a round radome. There are unconfirmed Chinese-language media reports that a more advanced variant of the KJ-2000 (KJ-3000) is now in development.
CETC will display its wares at the upcoming 15th Defence Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from April 18-21. A variety of Chinese defense companies will return to exhibit, including China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp. (CPMIEC) and Poly Technologies. All three exhibited at the 2014 DSA exhibition.
Defense News will cover the event.
