China has stepped up efforts to develop its next generation of ship-based warplanes for its new aircraft carriers, with recent photos revealing Beijing’s progress in developing early warning aircraft and stealth fighter jets.
A video circulating on Chinese social media this week showed the KJ-600 – China’s first fixed-wing early warning plane capable of operating on the carriers – on a test flight over the northwestern city of Xian, where its manufacturer, Xian Aircraft Industrial Corporation, is based.
The KJ-600 made its first flight in August 2020. And the latest online pictures showed a plane in green and white paint – suggesting it was still a prototype – and on its nose was a protruding pitot tube, which is used to measure airspeed.
