South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
23 January 2018
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Why America’s Stealth Jet Forces Should Fear China’s New Unarmed Eye in the Sky
Why America’s Stealth Jet Forces Should Fear China’s New Unarmed Eye in the Sky
China is developing a surveillance plane designed to be launched from the country’s newest aircraft carrier and fitted with a radar system to spot enemy stealth jets, military observers say.
State media confirmed for the first time on Monday that China was building its first carrier-borne early-warning plane called the KJ-600.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Maritime Security Programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the development of the KJ-600 suggested China wanted its carrier group to function far from shore.
“If China’s carrier group is designed more to operate closer to home waters, it would rely on shore-based early warning support,” Koh said.
“But with [the early-warning] planes, it implies that the People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier battle group is designed for distant sea operations … requiring … a more comprehensive early-warning umbrella.”
IDSS / Online / Print
Last updated on 24/01/2018
