avia.wikisort.org - Aeroplane

The Xi'an KJ-600 is a Chinese twin-propeller, quad-tail, high-wing military aircraft designed for cargo and airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), intended to be deployed on Type 003 aircraft carriers of the People's Liberation Army Navy from around 2024.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2020)

Xi'an KJ-600
Role	Carrier-capable transport / carrier onboard delivery / airborne early warning and control Type of aircraft
National origin	China
Manufacturer	Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation
First flight	29 August 2020
Status	Flight test
Primary user	People's Liberation Army Navy
Number built	2
Developed from	Xian JZY-01

Design and development

The KJ-600 is a high-straight wing aircraft reportedly powered by a pair of WJ-6 turboprop engine, and sports a quad-fin tailplane, tricycle gear and a large dorsal radome suspected to be fitted with an AESA-type system. A non-flying model was observed on a concrete mockup carrier at Wuhan electronic testing facility,[1] The mockup has a striking external resemblance to the aftward-folding Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. The design is likely to be a case of form following function, as the cancelled Soviet Yakovlev Yak-44 shared the same layout.[2]

The aircraft made its maiden flight on 29 August 2020.[3] Flight testing continued in 2021.[4][5] A prototype in flight was spotted by aircraft observers above the testing facility in October 2021.[6][7]

Strategic implication

The Diplomat's Rick Joe, who writes extensively on Chinese aviation and naval developments, commented that "fixed wing carrierborne AEW&C are a vital and essential part to any navy that seeks to field a robust and capable carrier airwing, and their ability to enhance a carrier group's offensive and defensive capabilities and overall situational awareness and network-centric warfare is unmatched by any other platform type that will exist in the near future".[8] Analyst H. I. Sutton believed the KJ-600 will be a massive boost to the PLA Navy, and "[o]nce it enters service on the carriers, it will greatly enhance the aerial and maritime situational awareness [...] [a]nd the offensive and defensive capabilities of the carrier group", and that "Chinese aerospace and military industry has certainly shown its ability to develop quite modern and capable AEW&C systems for other air, naval and ground applications".[2]

Specifications (KJ-600)

Data from GlobalSecurity.org[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 5-6
• Length: 18.14 m (59 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 25 m (82 ft)
• Height: 5.72 m (18 ft 9 in)
• Empty weight: 25,401 kg (56,000 lb)
• Gross weight: 30,481 kg (67,200 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Zhuzhou WoJiang-6C turboprop engines, 3,805 kW (5,103 hp) each (FWJ-6C)
• Propellers: 6-bladed constant-speed feathering and reversible propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 693 km/h (431 mph, 374 kn)
• Range: 1,250 km (780 mi, 670 nmi)
• Ferry range: 2,800 km (1,700 mi, 1,500 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 15,000 m (50,000 ft)

Avionics
3-way AESA radars arranged in a triangular configuration[6]

See also

Related development

• Xian JZY-01
• Xian Y-7

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Bell Boeing CMV-22 Osprey
• Grumman C-2 Greyhound
• Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
• Yakovlev Yak-44

References

На других языках

---

- [en] Xi'an KJ-600

---

[it] Xian KJ-600

Lo Xian KJ-600 è un bimotore turboelica imbarcato ad ala alta in fase di sviluppo, con compiti di Airborne Early Warning prodotto dall'azienda cinese Xian destinato a scopi di sorveglianza per la difesa delle future portaerei CATOBAR della Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Haijun, la Marina dell'Esercito Popolare di Liberazione Cinese.

---

---