×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Small Arms Warships & Submarines Military Ranks Military Pay Chart (2024) Special Forces
HOME
AVIATION INDEX
MODERN AIR FORCES
AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE AIRCRAFT
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT
AIRCRAFT BY TYPE
AIRCRAFT BY DECADE
MODERN AIRCRAFT
Aviation / Aerospace

Shaanxi KJ-500


Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) [ 2010 ]



The Shaanxi KJ-500 serves the modern Chinese Air Force in the Airborne Early Warning and Control role with over a dozen platforms currently available.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 07/09/2022 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

VIEW SPECIFICATIONS [+]
The KJ-500 is a modification of the base Y-9 four-engined turboprop-powered transport (detailed elsewhere on this site) manufactured by the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation of China for the Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) role. The type serves the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) as a short-to-medium-ranged "eye-in-the-sky" and is a further evolution of previous iterations of such aircraft types developed to undertake the same over-battlefield role - though bringing with it more advanced search, tracking and processing capabilities.

About seventeen platforms are currently available to the PLAAF (2018). The type was first publicly unveiled in September of 2015.

The Y-9 serves as the framework for the aircraft. This design itself is a relatively new product emerging from Chinese aero-industry and is rooted in the earlier Y-8X. Development on the type began in 2001 to produce a medium hauler for military service and advanced to become its own design as the 25-ton-capable Y-9 complete with 4 x Zhuzhou WoJiang 6C (FWJ-6C) turboprop engines of 5,100 horsepower each (two per wing) driving advanced six-bladed propeller units. Crewed by up to four personnel, this aircraft has the inherent capability to haul up to 106 passengers, 132 airborne troopers or nine complete palettes of cargo at speeds nearing 400 miles per hour up to a ceiling of 34,000 feet and out to ranges of 4,200 nautical miles. These qualities translate well to the AEW&C patrol role and the design, as a whole, represents a major Chinese success in the field of self-sufficiency concerning its in-house military hardware.

The KJ-500 airframe is modified for the role through various additions including dedicated crew command consoles, antenna arrays, radar and - most notably - the circular "plate" array seated over the dorsal spine of the aircraft (aft of midships). The plate is a radome sitting atop a two-strutted support structure and is fixed in place - offering 360-degree coverage about the aircraft's airspace. Other bulges and protrusions are also noted, no doubt housing sensors and the like. The wing mainplanes maintain a shoulder-mounting which provide for excellent ground clearance as well as low-speed control and strong Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) capabilities. The flight deck is seated over the short, downward-sloping nosecone with excellent vision out over the aircraft's frontal quadrant. The tail unit is raised (due to its transport roots) and sports ventral strakes as well as a single vertical tail fin with smaller, outboard vertical fins being added at each end of the horizontal planes. A multi-wheeled tricycle undercarriage, wholly-retractable, is used for ground-running.

Coupled with other current Chinese Air Force capabilities, the KJ-500 series platform certainly adds a much-needed modern potent tracking solution for the service. The onboard systems are completely networked into the Chinese Battle Management System (BMS) and reportedly offers enhanced identification, multi-function, and responsiveness qualities.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications



Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation - China
Manufacturer(s)
China
Operators National flag of China
2010
Service Year
China
National Origin
Active
Project Status
24
Crew
17
Units


SPECIAL-MISSION: AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING
Specially-equipped platform providing over-battlefield Command and Control (C2) capability for allied aerial elements.
SPECIAL-MISSION: ELETRONIC WARFARE
Equipped to actively deny adversaries the ElectroMagnetic (EM) spectrum and protect said spectrum for allied forces.


118.1 ft
(36.00 meters)
Length
131.2 ft
(40.00 meters)
Width/Span
37.7 ft
(11.50 meters)
Height
88,185 lb
(40,000 kilograms)
Empty Weight
154,324 lb
(70,000 kilograms)
Maximum Take-Off Weight
+66,139 lb
(+30,000 kg)
Weight Difference
monoplane / shoulder-mounted / straight
Mainplane Arrangement
Monoplane
Design utilizes a single primary wing mainplane; this represents the most popular modern mainplane arrangement.
Shoulder-Mounted
Mainplanes are mounted at the upper section of the fuselage, generally at the imaginary line intersecting the pilot's shoulders.
Straight
The planform involves use of basic, straight mainplane members.


4 x Zhuzhou WoJiang-6C (FWJ-6C) turboprop engines developing 5,100 horsepower each and driving six-bladed propeller units.
Propulsion
342 mph
(550 kph | 297 knots)
Max Speed
34,449 ft
(10,500 m | 7 miles)
Ceiling
3,542 miles
(5,700 km | 3,078 nm)
Range


MACH Regime (Sonic)
Sub
Trans
Super
Hyper
HiHyper
ReEntry
RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030


None. Mission equipment consists of sensors and processing systems for search and tracking of enemy elements at range.


KJ-500 - Base Series Designation.


Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway
Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift
Military lapel ribbon for the Chaco War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War
Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War
Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for Special Forces
Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era
Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Images



1 / 3
Image of the Shaanxi KJ-500
Image from the Chinese Ministry of Defense; Public Release.
2 / 3
Image of the Shaanxi KJ-500
Image from the Chinese Ministry of Defense; Public Release.
3 / 3
Image of the Shaanxi KJ-500
Image from the Chinese Ministry of Defense; Public Release.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)