Shaanxi KJ-200


The KJ-200 NATO reporting name: Moth or Y-8 Balance Beam system, is an Airborne early warning and control program developed by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation., short for 空中预警.

Design and development

The key component of this aircraft is an AESA radar system, visually similar to the Saab Erieye system, mounted on struts above the rear fuselage, as well as ventral sensor domes. The platform of this aircraft is based on the Shaanxi Y-8F-600 and it has been reported that Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150B turboprops and Honeywell avionics have been incorporated.
The general designer of the KJ-200 is Ouyang Shaoxiu, the same general designer of the Y-8. According to Ouyang the KJ-200 has been significantly modified from the original Y-8. including the adoption of a glass cockpit.

Operational history

The project experienced a major setback in 2006, when a KJ-200 crashed into a mountain in Guangde County while undergoing tests.
During the National Day of the People's Republic of China military parade 1 October 2009, a KJ-200 took the role as a lead aircraft.
In February 2017 a US Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion and a KJ-200 inadvertently came close to each other over the South China Sea. The aircraft were within 1,000 feet of each other.

Operators

; People's Republic of China