Carrier-based fighter jets attached to a regiment under the PLA Naval Aviation University fly in formation during a real combat flight training exercise on November 16, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ni Shuai)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's aircraft carrier-based fighter jets recently conducted a training exercise with early warning aircraft, a model of warplane currently based only on land but not on aircraft carriers , prompting experts to predict that the Chinese carrier-based early warning aircraft will make its official appearance soon.

An air group affiliated with the aviation force of the PLA Navy recently organized its early warning aircraft to join force with a fighter jet unit and carry out a high intensity early warning and detection exercise, PLA Southern Theater Command announced in a Sina Weibo post on Wednesday.

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, according to the post.

The exercise focused on challenging courses such as aerial reconnaissance, early warning and surveillance as well as command and control, tested and optimized several training methods and tactics, and honed the forces' joint detection and precision strike capabilities under complex electromagnetic environments, the PLA Southern Theater Command said.

Early warning aircraft are important power amplifiers that can not only detect, track, monitor and guide attacks against targets, but also gather vast information, analyze them and distribute missions to other combat units, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.

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 potentials in the system.

The fighter jets that participated in the latest drills are J-15 carrier-based fighter jets, a series of photos released by the PLA Southern Theater Command in its post revealed.

While the photos did not show the exact type of early warning aircraft, only that they use turboprop engines since the photos were taken from the early warning aircraft, observers said that KJ-200 or KJ-500 are the only candidates, noting that the PLA currently operates three types of early warning aircraft, the KJ-2000 that uses turbofan engines and the KJ-200 and KJ-500 that use turboprop engines, and they are designed to operate from airfields, not aircraft carriers.

But media reports have emerged since several years ago that China is developing a type of carrier-based early warning aircraft allegedly called the KJ-600.

Land-based early warning aircraft can only provide support to carrier-based fighter jets when aircraft carriers still operate near the land, but at far seas, carriers need their own early warning systems, experts told the Global Times.

With the KJ-600 expected to board China's third aircraft carrier, the electromagnetic catapult-equipped Fujian, coordination between carrier-based fighter jets and early warning aircraft will accelerate the improvement of combat capabilities, analysts noted.