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New York Times
June 7, 2006
Crash Of Chinese Surveillance Plane Hurts Effort On Warning System
By Joseph Kahn
BEIJING, June 6 - China's efforts to field an early-warning aircraft that
could help it project power far beyond its borders, and challenge American
intervention in any conflict with Taiwan, were dealt at least a temporary
blow by the crash of a surveillance aircraft on Sunday, defense specialists
in the region said.
The aircraft, described by two government-controlled newspapers in Hong Kong
as a Chinese-made airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, plane,
slammed into a hillside in central Anhui Province, killing all 40
technicians and crew members on board.
The crash was described as one of the worst disasters in the history of the
Chinese Air Force. The Chinese news media said that Guo Boxiong, a top
military official in Beijing, was supervising the investigation into the
accident.
The two Hong Kong newspapers, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, carried articles
on Monday that described the crash in more detail than did the rest of the
Chinese news media. They did not identify the model of the plane, but
regional experts suggested that it was most likely the KJ-2000, an
early-warning aircraft that was developed using mostly technology developed
in China.
In addition to the loss of the aircraft, one of four of its kind that China
has built, experts said the deaths of the 40 people on board, including 35
electronics and avionics technicians, could hinder one of China's most
pressing military modernization programs.
"We don't know the cause of the crash and can't say for certain how much of
a problem it will prove to be," said Allen Behm, an expert on the Chinese
military and a former chief strategist in Australia's Defense Department.
"But to lose that much expertise really does hurt."
The United States has a sophisticated fleet of Awacs aircraft that it sees
as giving its naval forces a decisive advantage in sea battles.
China needs such technology if it intends to project force far from its
shores. Without the technology, it would face tactical disadvantages in a
conflict with Japan or Taiwan.
China has repeatedly threatened to attack Taiwan if the island declares
formal independence. The United States has said it would come to Taiwan's
defense if China mounted an attack. Japan, an American military ally, uses
American-made Awacs aircraft.
Chinese officials tried for years to purchase Awacs technology from Israel,
France, Britain and Russia. But the United States strongly opposed the
sales, and Beijing has been forced to develop its own version.
The KJ-2000 is a conversion of a Russian-made IL-76 transport plane into an
Awacs aircraft. The Chinese Air Force has also mounted sophisticated radar
systems on its own Yun-8 transport planes.
Mr. Behm said the number of people on board Sunday's flight suggested that
China was conducting a test of the aircraft. The plane may have carried
three dozen technicians because China wanted to conduct the tests without
transmitting the plane's operating data to the ground.
It might take that precaution because the United States could intercept
air-to-ground signals from a Chinese Awacs plane and gauge the country's
progress in developing the technology, Mr. Behm said.
Lin Chong-pin, a former defense official in Taiwan, said China had pushed
hard to develop early-warning aircraft and probably would not be deterred by
the accident.
"They have the resolve and they have the money," Mr. Lin said. But he added
that China might be somewhat less likely to pursue a risky military
confrontation with Taiwan if it felt its AWACS aircraft was unprepared for
wartime operation.
June 7, 2006
Crash Of Chinese Surveillance Plane Hurts Effort On Warning System
By Joseph Kahn
BEIJING, June 6 - China's efforts to field an early-warning aircraft that
could help it project power far beyond its borders, and challenge American
intervention in any conflict with Taiwan, were dealt at least a temporary
blow by the crash of a surveillance aircraft on Sunday, defense specialists
in the region said.
The aircraft, described by two government-controlled newspapers in Hong Kong
as a Chinese-made airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, plane,
slammed into a hillside in central Anhui Province, killing all 40
technicians and crew members on board.
The crash was described as one of the worst disasters in the history of the
Chinese Air Force. The Chinese news media said that Guo Boxiong, a top
military official in Beijing, was supervising the investigation into the
accident.
The two Hong Kong newspapers, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, carried articles
on Monday that described the crash in more detail than did the rest of the
Chinese news media. They did not identify the model of the plane, but
regional experts suggested that it was most likely the KJ-2000, an
early-warning aircraft that was developed using mostly technology developed
in China.
In addition to the loss of the aircraft, one of four of its kind that China
has built, experts said the deaths of the 40 people on board, including 35
electronics and avionics technicians, could hinder one of China's most
pressing military modernization programs.
"We don't know the cause of the crash and can't say for certain how much of
a problem it will prove to be," said Allen Behm, an expert on the Chinese
military and a former chief strategist in Australia's Defense Department.
"But to lose that much expertise really does hurt."
The United States has a sophisticated fleet of Awacs aircraft that it sees
as giving its naval forces a decisive advantage in sea battles.
China needs such technology if it intends to project force far from its
shores. Without the technology, it would face tactical disadvantages in a
conflict with Japan or Taiwan.
China has repeatedly threatened to attack Taiwan if the island declares
formal independence. The United States has said it would come to Taiwan's
defense if China mounted an attack. Japan, an American military ally, uses
American-made Awacs aircraft.
Chinese officials tried for years to purchase Awacs technology from Israel,
France, Britain and Russia. But the United States strongly opposed the
sales, and Beijing has been forced to develop its own version.
The KJ-2000 is a conversion of a Russian-made IL-76 transport plane into an
Awacs aircraft. The Chinese Air Force has also mounted sophisticated radar
systems on its own Yun-8 transport planes.
Mr. Behm said the number of people on board Sunday's flight suggested that
China was conducting a test of the aircraft. The plane may have carried
three dozen technicians because China wanted to conduct the tests without
transmitting the plane's operating data to the ground.
It might take that precaution because the United States could intercept
air-to-ground signals from a Chinese Awacs plane and gauge the country's
progress in developing the technology, Mr. Behm said.
Lin Chong-pin, a former defense official in Taiwan, said China had pushed
hard to develop early-warning aircraft and probably would not be deterred by
the accident.
"They have the resolve and they have the money," Mr. Lin said. But he added
that China might be somewhat less likely to pursue a risky military
confrontation with Taiwan if it felt its AWACS aircraft was unprepared for
wartime operation.
