According to China Aviation Daily reported that China has 9.6 million square kilometers of land area of more than 300 million square kilometers of maritime territory, relying solely on ground radar is very difficult to cover the entire airspace. Detect a wide range of airborne early warning aircraft, no blind spots, for small target detection capability, is an effective homeland defense equipment.
airborne early warning aircraft like a command center, which combines early warning detection, intelligence and reconnaissance, command and control, communications,mac makeup, navigation and other functions, the magic of modern air combat.
no early warning aircraft, the passive situation of our army
land air defense interceptor's success depends largely on early warning. In the absence of early warning aircraft of the era, providing early warning radar is the only equipment. Only a few early days behind the Air Force radar, including the Soviet Union assistance п-3h and п-3а meter standard medium-range radar and the United States 208 and 406 radar. Warning radar to guide them away from 150 km, the error of about 2 km. In 1957, several years before war, because of the radar error, though can lead to the target near the fighter, but in complex weather or at night, our military fighter pilots still can not find the target using the naked eye.
1955, the People's Air Force has dispatched 246 aircraft sorties to intercept harassed in Taiwan, only 20, the pilot found the target, in which individuals opened the gun, but no success.
1956, the People's Air Force from the Soviet Union imported 23 п-20 radar and a lot of п-3 radar, in the long form along the front of Taiwan and have a great jump radar warning network, quickly achieved victories, June 22, 1956 night, the Kuomintang invasion of an b-17 reconnaissance aircraft deployed in Quzhou, empty 5 п-20 radar for the first time the military has successfully guided a day m Grid -17 fighters into visual range, to shoot down river in Jiangxi Ridge Township, after the end of the valley village. August 22 night combat, near Shanghai Hongqiao Airport п-20 radar and guide military aircraft MiG -17, will be a U.S. p4m-1q electronic reconnaissance aircraft shot down. The night of November 10, Hangzhou, п-20 radar, the third guide MiG -17 fighters shot down a KMT c-46 transport aircraft.
However, with the Nationalist air force a change in tactics, in the absence of moonlight night, and 300 to 500 meters altitude activities, п-20 radar to guide the performance began to decline. The year 1957, the KMT b-17g 53 reconnaissance aircraft fleeing into the mainland, the people took off 69 sorties the Air Force to intercept all come to nothing. Night Nov. 20 that year, a KMT b-17g after entering the aircraft from Hui'an in Fujian, the Hunan, Jiangxi to the mainland hinterland, period, п-20 radar a few times,mac brushes, but soon disappeared. Later, this aircraft even invading aircraft Tongguan north west of Taiyuan.
army no radar guidance, the aircraft can only be subjective judgments may be in the Beijing-Guangzhou railway to 200 km west of 150 blank area of radar activity, resulting in one time to take off MiG-18 sorties -17 fighters with radar all outsmarted. 9 hours 13 minutes in the enemy's invasion process, and yet there is not 3 hours 8 minutes into the radar until he went to a b-17g 65 kilometers west of Shijiazhuang, was the old 270 a radar occasionally found A few minutes later the aircraft disappeared on the radar horizon, the safe return of Taiwan.
Since then, the KMT converted into electronic reconnaissance aircraft, equipped with electronic jamming of radar systems, military radar, more passive, until May 1959, our military has not invasion of the Kuomintang during the night to shoot down the aircraft until the advent of surface to air missile units, only to change this passive situation.
It can be seen, the ground radar was exposed weaknesses, develop early warning aircraft for the Chinese air force is imperative.
the tortuous course of our military development of early warning
Aviation Museum in Beijing, China-made AWACS air marshals One prototype, is the first milestone in the development of early warning aircraft.
1953 年 3, the Soviet Union presented to China's 10 chart-4п fighters. The earliest people of the Air Force combat aircraft like AWACS radar is a modified figure-4п huge night fighter, this may be the world's largest air combat fighter.
modified Figure-4п Although early warning aircraft have been equipped with a prototype, but as a night fighter was too heavy, combat is not strong. December 19, 1960 night, a KMT p2v plane channeling direction to Zhangjiakou, approved military plans to take off the 3-4п night fighter, quickly find the target by airborne radar. p2v almost impossible to get rid of these huge fire fighters, but because the equipment was obsolete, and the error of infrared sight almost 2 degrees. Pursued in several batches of fire, always did not cause p2v fatal. The plane arrived in Linyi in Shandong p2v over, the army was the third batch of the walls in the plan-4п shooting up to 35 minutes, a powerful fire forced the crew sent to abandoned machine p2v jump, but in the end p2v or escape. Obviously, the modification of the Figure-4п, but off.
1969 年 9 months, the Air Force proposed development of airborne early warning aircraft, code-named World at that time only the U.S., former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom three countries with airborne early warning aircraft.
November 25 that year,mac makeup wholesale, the Air Force headquarters issued a circular to six hospital-based, space a, empty two, the Air Force second plant-based, deployed personnel Development of the airborne early warning aircraft, 5702 plant production, the implementation of space flight mission of 36 divisions and units across the country asked,
modified by the map-4п contained machine, installed in the back of a huge radar dome and bracket system, the total resistance of the aircraft increased by about 30%. In order to increase power,vibram 5 fingers, they replaced the original map-4п piston engine aircraft, so that the entire machine power plant power increases 67%. In addition, the technical staff of the carrier aircraft's aerodynamic shape and structure has been modified, the whole development process of the hair test more than 2000 times.
At that time, early-warning technology for the world to know very little, very different design concept. Figure-4п aircraft's bomb bay, and several other mid-cabin all converted into watertight compartments, the radar operator for the arrangement and control of personnel. One air marshal major subsystems including surveillance radar systems, data processing systems, data display and control systems, IFF systems, communications and data transmission systems, navigation and guidance systems, electronic warfare systems.
One in the air marshal is on the use of p-type arrangement of multiple radar display, a 2-type display, uhf and vhf radio band, respectively, as open spaces and empty talk , in essence, just One air marshal air radar move to expand the scope and reduce the blind spot detection, performance, and the early 50's very early warning, not a real sense of the modern early-warning aircraft. One of the objectives of air marshals to detect low-altitude area equivalent to 40 п-3 radar, which was the Continental Air Defense for the very practical value
on June 10, 1971 the first successful test flight, and was named
first test flight with a radome, air marshals appeared in the sky One severe vibration phenomenon. In the cockpit, the pilot's pedal board giggle ringing; in the middle of the cabin, three vertical tail gunner can see a clear cyclical swings; in Weicang, who shook a can not write.
analysis, the researchers presented 17 exclusive vibration program, after two years of painstaking research, has finally been excluded from the buffeting.
from the second half of 1976, the Air Force organization to improve resistance to surface features and the waves of radar clutter research. November 20, 1978 to January 18, 1979, the sea air marshals One organization test, unfortunately, not obvious. Eventually, due to the performance of early warning radar can not meet the needs of air marshals One Stop Development in 1979.
the first National Day military AWACS appearance
60th anniversary parade, 200 air marshals, two air marshals 2000 type of independent research and development of early warning debut, attracted worldwide attention.
initiative to break the Chinese in 2002, the purchase price and performance from abroad do not meet the requirements of the early warning aircraft, instead of self-reliance, to the development of national intellectual property with its own large-scale early warning aircraft. Made to redefine the development of early warning aircraft.
early warning aircraft, the Air Force's combat capability in modern multiplier, came the Chinese Air Force early warning aircraft, marking the combat capability of the Chinese Air Force had a historic change.
