China’s next-generation KJ-3000 radar planes may have quietly entered production

Satellite imagery suggests China may have begun limited production of the KJ-3000 airborne early warning aircraft, with three possible production airframes remaining near the Xian-Yanliang factory since April. October 5 imagery showed four aircraft at the complex, while earlier imagery reportedly identified a fifth, including two numbered prototypes and three examples without comparable serial markings. The aircraft uses the domestically produced Y-20B airframe and WS-20 engines for its radar and command-and-control mission. Factory parking patterns do not establish deliveries, and analysts have identified no evidence of the aircraft at operational air force bases.