By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Surveillance at sea beyond the horizon, if properly networked, can not only save lives in maritime warfare by “seeing” threats at greater stand-off ranges, enabling more time for defenses, countermeasures or counterattack, but also conduct offensive targeting and attack missions to “find,” “verify,” and “destroy” otherwise unreachable enemy targets.
This is the Concept of Operation informing the US Navy’s continued maturation and deployment of its famous carrier-launched E-2D Hawkeye. While the Hawkeye has for years functioned as an early warning surveillance plane engineered to “detect” and “see” potential threats, in more recent years the US Navy has leveraged technological advances to evolve the E-2D into a flying command and control node as well. In a tactical sense, this means the surveillance aircraft can increasingly network with fighter jets, surface ships, drones and even satellites in near real time with an ability to gather, process and disseminate time-sensitive high-value combat data.
China CopyCat
In recent years, the People’s Liberation Army – Navy and Air Force have been maturing similar “Hawkeye-like” surveillance and warning planes such as the KJ-200 and KJ-500 aircraft. These efforts indicate a somewhat transparent or observable PLA effort to simply “replicate” “copy” or recreate the successful US Navy E-2D Hawkeye. Certainly PLA efforts to replicate or “hijack” US platforms and technologies is a well-known and long-standing source of concern for Pentagon and Congressional weapons developers, yet in more recent years the PRC appear to also be copying us tactics, strategies and doctrinal approaches regarding how best to integrate, apply and deploy emerging technologies.
Perhaps with an eye upon the US Navy Hawkeye, The People’s Liberation Army -Navy is integrating its new, fast emerging KJ-600 surveillance plane variant capable of “networking” closely and quickly with fighter jets. This initiative seems to closely mirror or “copycat” ongoing successful US efforts to achieve multi-domain, multi-platform joint connectivity, data transmission and targeting. The PLA recently demonstrated its KJ-600 in war preparation drills with its J-15 carrier-launched fighter jet, according to a recently published essay in the Chinese-government-backed Global Times newspaper.
Chinese War Threat – Warrior Video Analysis
“The PLA has developed a complete, integrated combat system, of which early warning aircraft play a key role , the expert said, noting that fighter jets and other combat elements can maximize their potential in the system,” the paper writes.
It seems conceivable, if not quite likely that the PLA-Navy is seeking to mirror, match or challenge US Navy upgrades and adaptations to the Hawkeye such as the addition of new computing, radar, electronics and sensing. In terms of tactics and concepts of operation, the PLA also appears to be copying US efforts to “network” otherwise disparate platforms into a single, integrated combat system.
“During the drills, the early warning aircraft formed a communications network and established an information chain, detected and located target radiation sources, and commanded and guided the fighter jets to conduct attacks against targets at sea,” the Global Times states.
The US Navy E-2D, a twin-engine, carrier-launched aircraft, leverages a 24-foot “roto-dome” designed to enable continuous scanning. The Chinese KJ-200, KJ-500 and newer KJ-600 all incorporate a 24-foot long “roto-dome” with a similar configuration to the US Navy E-2D. The sensitivity, range and fidelity of the PLA-Navy sensing, radar and surveillance may or may not rival that of an upgraded US Navy Hawkeye, yet there does appear to be a PLA effort to replicate and copycat the US Navy in terms of design specs, technological configuration and concepts of operation.
In recent years the E-2D Hawkeye has been operating as a critical “aerial gateway” node in a successfully deployed US Navy system called Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA). Deployed on US Navy destroyers for nearly 10-years now, NIFC-CA connects ship-based radar and fire control with an aerial gateway node such as a Hawkeye in position to “see” incoming enemy anti-ship missiles from ranges well beyond the radar horizon or aperture available to most surface warships. As the aerial node, the Hawkeye sends target specifics of approaching enemy threats to ship command and control, which then launches an SM-6 interceptor to track, intercept and “destroy” the attacking enemy missile at ranges far greater than what a surface warship could intercept a threat.
It appears that, through these war preparation drills and KJ-600 early warning aircraft, the PLA-Navy seeks to rival and replicate US multi-domain target data processing, networking and targeting.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
