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.”

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