According to the EastPendulum.com site, several elements concur that the future airborne early warning aircraft of the Chinese Navy would be on the point to start his tests. in the next weeks. Information is incomplete concerning this program, except that the aircraft will probably have a configuration close to that of the Grumman E2 Hawkeye, powered by 2 turboprop engines and carrying a radar in a dome radome.
The radar could be the KLC-7 “eye of the Silk Road”, built by CETC, and the performances would be comparable to those of the low frequency AN/APY radar from Lockheed-Martin which will equip the E-2D. If this is the case, the new Chinese EAW[efn_note]Early Airborn Warning or Avion Awacs[/efn_note] will be able to more easily detect stealth aircraft like the F35 or F22.
This announcement comes as several photos showing the evolution of the future third Chinese aircraft carrier, which this time will have catapults, have been published on social networks, attesting to a probable dry docking this year, and therefore a launch in 2020.
The planning for the rise of the Chinese navy is remarkable in this respect, combining a plan for the acquisition of naval and air units, as well as a perfectly mastered recruitment and training plan, attesting to the strategic role that the Chinese navy in the international politics of the country's coming years.