Pakistan's Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircrafts

[a1b2c145]

This is Y-8 with skymaster radar.similar to UK namrod AWACS

Then what about this one?

 

[Arsalan]

Originally Posted by pakpower
Is PAF getting these KJ-2000 Awacs from china which shown in the above posted video.

i wish we were but PAF opted not to go for tha heavyier platform! it is the KJ200 we are getting! the one propleeler aircraft with the bar radar on its top

regards!

 

[SBD-3]

Then what about this one?

here is what i got about it

Y-8X is PLAN's first long-range maritime patrol aircraft (range 5,600km). It is essentially a Y-8/An-12 transport aircraft equipped with a Litton AN/APS-504(V)3 surface search radar in an enlarged undernose radome plus western navigational systems for long range patrols over the sea. The aircraft also carries optical and IR cameras and sonobuoys. One of the drawbacks is that the aircraft is unarmed, but the it does have the potential to carry a heavy load of weapons. Around 4 Y-8Xs are believed in service with PLA Naval Aviation (serial numbers 9261-9291, 9281 later converted to Y-8J) stationed in Shangdong Province. They have been carrying out series of long-range intelligence gathering missions near the coast of Japan and South Korea, prompting interceptions by F-15s and F-16s from the two countries. The latest rumor claimed that an ASW variant of Y-8 (Y-8Q/High New 6?) similar to American P-3C was developed in 2007 for PLAN.

you can see all the chinese AWACS at this link
hope it will help
Chinese Military Aviation

 

[Arsalan]

Then what about this one?

it looks like some marine patrol aircraft! i actuall dont know much about it but that is what it looks like to me!

regards!

 

[wangrong]

it looks like some marine patrol aircraft! i actuall dont know much about it but that is what it looks like to me!

regards!

marine patrol aircraft

 

[wangrong]

Then what about this one?

it is director aircraft

 

[wangrong]

 

[hj786]

it is director aircraft

http://cnair.top81.cn/y-8x_sh-5_a-50i.htm
A Y-8T C3I airborne command post is shown here. It has a redesigned real fuselage section with the loading ramp and tail gun turret removed. The aircraft also features a dorsal fairing aft the wing seciton which might house a SATCOM antenna. Multiple antenna arrays can be seen along the top and bottom of the fuselage, as well as on the vertical tailfin. Y-8T C3I command post prototype first flew in August 2004 and is expected to provide better coordiation for PLAAF air operations. Currently three aircraft (serial # 30271-30273) are in service with PLAAF.

 

[wangrong]

You mean to say it is a battlefield management aircraft, or perhaps a communications relay aircraft? That would make sense because it has many antennae for communication but appears to have no sensors or large transmitters for EW.

trunk communication /director aircraft

 

[a1b2c145]

it looks like some marine patrol aircraft! i actuall dont know much about it but that is what it looks like to me!

regards!

This is a direction or command aircraft

 

[a1b2c145]

I also have new pictures too

 

[Haanzo]

n a peculiar twist of fate, an aircraft whose series-production ended in 1999 continues to be selected as the preferred platform for airborne early warning and control (AEW & C), with its two latest customers now being the air forces of Pakistan and Thailand. While Pakistan would be procuring four Saab 2000-based AEW & C platforms (all ex-Air France airframes) Thailand will acquire two smaller Saab 340-based AEW & C systems. The Saab 2000 AEW & C programme got underway in June 2006, when launch customer Pakistan finalised the purchase of six operational platforms.

so has the production really ended ,if pakistan is getting ex-airframes ....if true what about spares and maintainance....and about remaining life of the airframe ....noting beats a new airframe right..so why this choice

 

[ironman]

I have posted before this article but here the full one.

Twist Of Fate​

In a peculiar twist of fate, an aircraft whose series-production ended in 1999 continues to be selected as the preferred platform for airborne early warning and control (AEW & C), with its two latest customers now being the air forces of Pakistan and Thailand. While Pakistan would be procuring four Saab 2000-based AEW & C platforms (all ex-Air France airframes), Thailand will acquire two smaller Saab 340-based AEW & C systems. The Saab 2000 AEW & C programme got underway in June 2006, when launch customer Pakistan finalised the purchase of six operational platforms. This contract was revised in May 2007 when Pakistan decided to acquire only four AEW & C platforms, with the remaining two Saab 2000s being cannibalised for spares. Currently, there are only a total of 50 out of 63 Saab 2000s that remain in airline service, with the remainder 13 being retained by Saab Aircraft. It is these aircraft that are being relifed and modified as AEW & C platforms. In the case of Thailand, Bangkok agreed on October 16 last year to go ahead with a Baht34.4 billion (US$1.086 billion) programme that calls for the procurement of 12 JAS-39C/D Gripen medium multi-role combat aircraft and two Saab 340 AEW & Cs. While the first six Gripens and one AEW & C platform worth Baht19 billion (US$607 million) will be procured between 2008 and 2012, the remaining aircraft worth Baht15.4 billion ($492 illion) will be ordered between 2013 and 2017. These aircraft will be based at the Royal Thai Air Force’s (RTAF) existing air base at Ubon Ratchathani (under 21 Wing) and an expanded and upgraded air base at Surat Thani (under 7 Wing). The first Saab 2000 AEW & C platform for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will be delivered this October.

The Saab 2000 is one of the fastest turboprop aircraft in existence, being able to cruise at a speed of more than 665kph (360 Knots). It made its maiden flight on March 26, 1992 and entered commercial airline service in 1994, a few months after its certification by the Joint Aviation Authorities in March and the Federal Aviation Administration in April. The Saab 2000’s powerplant comprises twin Rolls-Royce AE-2100 turboprop engines, each driving six-bladed Dowty Rotol propellers. The aircraft’s service ceiling is 31,000 feet, and the cockpit is equipped with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics suite with integrated avionics processor, engine indication and crew alerting system, traffic alert and collision avoidance system, attitude heading and reference system, and a digital air data system. Cabin noise is reduced by an active noise control system comprising 72 microphones and 36 speakers, which generate anti-phase noise.

Each of the four PAF Saab 2000 AEW & C platforms will be equipped with the FSR-890 Erieye radar built by Ericsson Microwave Systems. The S-band Erieye is a pulse-Doppler active phased-array radar operating within the 2GHz to 4GHz bandwidth. The 8 metre-long, 900kg antenna will be mounted on the upper dorsal spine of the Saab 2000’s fuselage. The radar’s dorsal unit (DU) will include the carbon-fibre radome, antenna array, RF distribution network, and 192 transmit/receive modules that will be cooled by ram-air. Each such module will comprise a power amplifier for the transmitted microwave signal, low-noise amplifiers as front-ends for the receiver channels, and phase shifters for accurate control of the signal phase in both transmit and receive modes. In the latter, amplification of the signal will be controlled as well. The phases and amplitudes will be continuously calibrated. Each T/R module will be connected to one vertical slotted waveguide on each side. An electronic switch in the module will select the side. By feeding the slotted waveguide separately in the upper and lower half, the beam will be shifted in elevation for height measurement. This shifting will be conducted by single-step phase shifters in the front-ends of the modules. A module-control databus will provide control of the modules to achieve instantaneous antenna beam-steering and the very low sidelobes required. A receiver/exciter processor will generate the pulsed microwave signals and send them to the antenna. It will also accept the received signals from the DU and generate both digitised video signals for signals processing as well as data signals for steering the beam. The transmit drive signal will be generated by a frequency synthesizer and will be up-converted and modulated for pulse compression (using polyphase coding), and will be amplified before being sent to the DU. A programmable signal-and-data processor will receive the returned radar signals from the receiver/exciter via optical data links in digitised quadrature video format. The radial velocity of detected airborne targets will be determined from the Doppler frequency via combined signals from the T/R modules. By combining these signals, the processor will modify the effective antenna sidelobe pattern to place nulls in the direction of hostile jammers. The processor will also perform coherent integration by Fast Fourier Transform that will form a Doppler filter bank. This will be followed by pulse compression, constant false alarm rate processing and binary integration. Due to all this, the Erieye’s processor will generate clutter- and interference-free position data for all targets.

The two identical antennae in the DU will comprise a row of vertical slotted waveguides each with two sections that will each contain five slots providing low vertical sidelobes. By shifting the signal phase from the upper and lower parts respectively, two tilted lobes will be provided for measuring target altitudes. By adjusting the gain, a proper sidelobe in azimuth will be obtained. The Erieye will provide 270-degree airspace surveillance coverage and have an instrumental range of 450km and detection range of 350km in a dense hostile electronic warfare environment. The radar’s optimum performance (with very low sidelobes) will be over the 120° azimuthal sectors on each side of the aircraft. In addition, the Erieye will also have a secondary sea surveillance mode. For the PAF, the Erieye will be configured for detection, tracking and height finding of airborne contacts, automatic track initiation and continuous tracking of up to 300 airborne targets, moving ground target detection and area ground mapping. In a severe EW environment the radar’s adaptive sidelobe cancelling feature will severely diminish the effects of hostile EW jamming. Pulse compression will be resorted to improve range resolution, while frequency agility will be used to avoid the negative effects resulting from hostile jamming. Doppler processing in both low- and medium-pulse repetition frequencies will be the main target detection mode amidst ground clutter, while horizontal antenna polarisation will provide an indication of the altitudes on which the tracked contracts are flying. High instantaneous bandwidth and Doppler resolution will enable the Erieye to undertake target analysis via non-cooperation recognition techniques. For detecting hostile airborne aircraft, two mean antenna scan rates of 12 degrees/second or 3 degrees/second will be used, while a scan rate of 3 degrees/second will be used for detecting terrain-hugging or sea-skimming cruise missiles. Warships will be detected using a low-PRF without Doppler filtering. An adaptive radar control mode will control beam scheduling to share the total available time between search, confirmation od detections, and track updates. The Erieye will also include an IFF transponder.

Inside the AEW & C platform will be five multifunction display/processor consoles that will make up the Central Tactical System (CTS) for providing tactical data management solutions via tactical aids, cues, alerts and bookkeeping functions. The platform will also have a communications suite comprising dual HF and five sets of V/UHF radios for enabling the exchange of tactical data with friendly land, sea and air forces as well as communicating with civilian ATC networks. A Link 16 data link will provide automatic clear or secure communications channels via one of the HF radios and one dedicated UHF transceiver. The data link will be used for relaying information such as tracking cues, contact range, bearing, velocity, altitude and intercept vectors to friendly airborne combat aircraft, while the PAF’s ground-based Sector Operations Centres (SOC) will be networked with the AEW & C platform via the Erieye Ground Interface Segment (EGIS) that will provide two-way exchange of data between the airborne AEW & C platform and ground-based SOCs.
For self-protection, the Saab 2000 AEW & C will have on board the Saab-built CIDAS-300 fully integrated defensive aids suite that will include multi-spectral optronic sensors and a HES-21 ESM suite, designed for the protection of aircraft against infra-red/laser-guided MANPADS). CIDAS-300 will in turn be fully integrated with Saab’s wingtip-mounted BOP-L lightweight chaff/flare countermeasures dispensing system. Designed from the outset as a fully integrated modular system, CIDAS-300 combines radar/laser/infra-red/ultra-violet missile approach warning and countermeasures dispensing functions in a single systems controller. Another component of CIDAS-300 will be the HES-21 ESM suite that combines the radar warning receiver and BOP-L dispenser with interferometer antenna arrays, a missile approach warning system, laser warning system, countermeasure dispensers, defensive aids controller, and a display-cum-control unit.


Chinese Solutions

A relative newcomer in the arena of new-generation AEW & C platforms is China, whose aircraft manufacturer Shaanxi Aircraft Industry Corp (based at Hanzhong in Shaanxi Province) and defence electronics manufacturer CETC International have, since the late 1990s, been developing three distinct AEW & C platforms under an R & D programme codenamed ‘Project No5’. The largest of them all is the KJ-2000, which uses an IL-76MD aircraft and houses a dorsal saucer-shaped radome housing a three-sided, L-band active electronically-scanned array. The same radome-based configuration has also been installed on a Y-8F-600 turboprop aircraft, which also features wingtip-mounted ESM fairings, and additional vertical stabilisers on the tips of the horizontal tails. Maiden flight of the first technology demonstrator (this being a Y-8F-200) took place on November 8, 2001. This was followed by the definitive prototype, using the Y-8F-600 aircraft, taking to the skies in January 2005. It was this AEW & C platform, powered by four turboprop engines and developed by CETC’s 38th Institute that was demonstrated to the PAF in July 2006 at the Chaklala air base.

The third AEW & C platform, four of which have been ordered for the PAF under a $276 million contract, is called the KJ-200 and uses a Y-9 airframe that mounts a ‘Balance Beam’ L-band active phased-array radar inside a large rectangular fairing carried above the Y-9’s fuselage. This radar bears a close resemblance to the Erieye radar of Ericsson Microwave Systems. The first KJ-200 prototype used a Y-8F-200 aircraft as the flying technology demonstrator. This platform, developed by CETC’s Nanjing-based 14th Institute, also featured a new tail section, plus two radomes located at the nose tip and tailcone to house two active phased-array radar antennae to provide full 360-degree airspace coverage. In addition, fairings at the wingtips and top of the tailfin were mounted to house ESM and data link avionics. The aircraft also had integrated wing-mounted fuel tanks, and was powered by four turboprop engines driving high-efficiency JL-4 six-blade propellers to the aircraft a longer range. The mission sensor/management avionics suite was housed in a pressurised carbin, and a new integrated digital flight control avionics suite based on ARINC-429 databus and RS422 interfaces was installed. Two KJ-200 prototypes were built—the first using a Y-8F-200 airframe (which first flew on January 14, 2005) and the second using the Y-9 airframe that was powered by four Wojiang FWJ-6C turboprop engines that drove six-bladed JL-4 composite propellers. It was this prototype that crashed on June 3, 2006 near the village of Yaocun in Anhui Province’s Guangde County, killing all 40 personnel on board. A subsequent enquiry conducted by China’s Central Military Commission revealed on September 7 the same year that the crash occurred due to wing surface icing (heavy ice formation on the wings after the aircraft made repeated passes in and out of clouds in bad weather). By November 2007, Shaanxi Aircraft Industry Corp had rolled out a new Y-9 for conversion into a KJ-200 platform, and the third prototype will be rolled out this April. All three KJ-200 prototypes were flight-qualified by the Nanjing-based Central Flight Test Establishment. Production variants of the Y-9-based KJ-200 AEW & C platform are capable of housing a 20-tonne mission payload, and have a cruising speed of 650kph, cruising altitude of 9km, ferry range of 5,800km without aerial refuelling, and a flight endurance of 12 hours. The first four KJ-200s were officially inducted into service by China’s PLA Air Force last May, while those for the PAF will be delivered between 2011 and 2013, and will be called as the ZDK-03 platform.

 

[Arsalan]

The two identical antennae in the DU will comprise a row of vertical slotted waveguides each with two sections that will each contain five slots providing low vertical sidelobes. By shifting the signal phase from the upper and lower parts respectively, two tilted lobes will be provided for measuring target altitudes. By adjusting the gain, a proper sidelobe in azimuth will be obtained. The Erieye will provide 270-degree airspace surveillance coverage and have an instrumental range of 450km and detection range of 350km in a dense hostile electronic warfare environment. The radar’s optimum performance (with very low sidelobes) will be over the 120° azimuthal sectors on each side of the aircraft.

now this have been the real confusing part over last couple of months!
we have discussed thatin detail that the erieye have been modified to give 360 degree surviallance. we have got solid links and points to this issue but still every now and then we are getting to read article telling the same old story of 270 degree coverage!
apart from this point, it was a good article!

regards!

 

[wild peace]

Saab 2000 Cockpit video

Complete functional video