People’s Daily recently reported on the newly revealed award winning Chinese AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft KJ-2000. The report claimed that the KJ-2000 is one generation ahead of the most advanced U.S. AWACS aircraft E-3C. The Chinese KJ-2000 captured nine technological Number One titles in the world’s history of the development of AWACS aircraft. One example is that the Chinese system is equipped with three radar devices while the U.S. Air Force E-3C has only one, which has to spin continuously to cover the 360 degree range. However all experts agreed that the Chinese system lacks serious combat testing while the U.S. models have been tested in real battlefields for decades. Reliability is another key concern.
Source: People’s Daily, January 20, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/n/2013/0120/c1011-20262851.html