The KJ-1 is a first generation Chinese AEW (
Airborne Early Warning
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
) radar fitted to a
Tupolev Tu-4
The Tupolev Tu-4 (russian: Туполев Ту-4; NATO reporting name: Bull) is a piston-engined Soviet strategic bomber that served the Soviet Air Force from the late 1940s to mid-1960s. It was reverse-engineered from the American Boeing B-29 S ...
bomber. The project was started in 1969 under the code name "Project 926". (KJ is from the first characters of the
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
spelling of 空警, (Kōng Jǐng), short for 空中预警 (Kōng Zhōng Yù Jǐng), which means Airborne Early Warning).
Design and development
According to PRC government claims, a single KJ-1 would be equivalent to more than 40 ground radar stations, but development was stopped due to the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
. In the era of the
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...
, the project was once again put on hold because economic development was given top priority. When the project was finally reviewed again for the modernisation of the
People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...
it was considered obsolete. In the KJ-1's place PRC developed a
phased-array radar
In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...
for its
KJ-2000
The KJ-2000 (), NATO reporting name: Mainring is a People's Republic of China, Chinese Airborne early warning and control system comprising domestically designed electronics and radars installed on a modified Ilyushin Il-76 airframe.
Development ...
AWACS. The sole KJ-1 is now on display at the
PLAAF museum north of
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
"Chinese Airborne Early Warning (AEW)."
''PLA-AF Airborne Early Warning & Control Programs''.
References
External links
translated from Russian via Google translate
Photograph of KJ-1 prototype at Datangshan Museum, China
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