China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force and People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force are steadily expanding their airborne early warning and control aircraft fleets. Between five and eight Kongjing KJ-500 variants (themselves developments of the Y-8 licence-built version of the An-12 turboprop-powered transport) are operational with each air arm and production continues at a high rate. A recent picture of an unpainted example on a flight test shows the heavily modified transport fitted with a fixed in-flight refuelling probe mounted above the cockpit, the first sighting of this forcemultiplying enhancement of the long-range aircraft Another recent image of a KJ-500H wearing the serial 81033 indicates the planned reestablishment of the 3rd Naval Air Division as an airborne early warning unit is going ahead.
Andreas Rupprecht
