Military

JY-300 Unmanned Aerial Early Warning Surveillance System

China is a rising star in the field of early warning aircraft technology. Although it started late, it has made rapid progress. Now it is trying to surpass the United States by relying on overall technological progress. China Electronics Technology Group Corp built the world's first early-warning drone, which it calls a "flying radar". It is a machine the size of combat drone Caihong-4 (CH-4) that combines missions of reconnaissance and attack. Information on the JY-300 was first made public in June 2018 at a radar expo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

The biggest feature of the JY-300 unmanned airborne early warning and surveillance system is the integration of radar antennas and drones. In other words, it uses a series of advanced conformal antennas and smart skins. The technology has broken through the difficult problem of installing early warning radar on drones. The radar antenna of traditional early warning aircraft is installed outside the fuselage. This design is relatively simple, but it will affect the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft and reduce the stability and maneuverability of the aircraft.

The JY-300 drone creatively realizes the integration of radar antenna and drone, which integrates the radar antenna with the structure of the drone. The radar antenna of the JY-300 UAV is installed on both sides of the fuselage and the leading edge of the wing, which not only ensures the radar detection capability, but also minimizes the impact on the aerodynamic performance of the UAV. Not only does it not change the aerodynamic layout of the carrier platform, allowing the airborne early warning radar system to affect the flight performance of the aircraft, but also allows the radar antenna to scan without blind spots, improving work efficiency.

The advantages of conformal antenna technology are not small, but the technology is difficult. Because it is attached to the fuselage, the shape is not fixed, the thickness should be thin, and it can be made into a certain shape. This is a great deal for radar antenna technology. challenge. For this reason, this technology was once regarded as a science fiction technology. When Chinese researchers talked about related technologies, many people couldn't believe it.

The emergence of fast and powerful anti-ship missiles effectively reduces the reaction time of surface fleets and reduces the defense distance. Therefore, surface fleets need airborne early warning requirements. Traditional fixed-wing early warning aircraft require large-deck aircraft carriers. The requirements for economic and technical strength are high, and it is difficult for ordinary countries to deploy. Even a navy equipped with aircraft carriers can hardly equip all formations with early warning aircraft. Early warning helicopters are a solution, but it will affect the number of anti-submarine helicopters in the formation.

In this case, relevant Chinese units have developed unmanned airborne early warning aircraft. The Chinese Navy is building amphibious assault ships. It is even possible to form amphibious assault groups with amphibious assault ships as the center, so that they can be equipped with unmanned early warning aircraft such as JY-300 to provide airborne early warning and enhance formation air defense capabilities.

The unpiloted plane, the JY-300, developed and made by the State-owned defense conglomerate's 38th Research Institute, has radars on its airframe capable of longtime, long-range surveillance of aircraft and ships, said Rong Haichun, a senior designer with the institute, which is based in Hefei, Anhui province. "The JY-300 is the world's first unmanned aircraft that integrates radars with airframe, which means radar antennae are part of the craft's skin," Rong told China Daily 10 November 2018 from the sidelines of the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Future AEW aircraft will become conformal, meaning antennas and sensors will be integrated into the aircraft's fuselage, the article said, noting that this will contribute to the warplane's aerodynamic and stealth capabilities and allow it to carry larger payloads. AEW system aircraft usually have a radome -- where antennas and sensors are stored -- mounted on top of its fuselage. This structure results in extra air drag and reflects more radar waves, making the aircraft cumbersome and easy to detect.

Future AEW aircraft will be more interconnected to a combat network, making it capable of receiving data from land, sea, air and space-based platforms, which can then provide support to combatants. A fighter jet could use target information received from AEW aircraft to deliver a strike without using its own radar, which could be suppressed in electronic warfare or intentionally shut down to maintain stealth.

China has also developed a new generation of high-speed broadband data links. This data link can be equipped on surface ships and JY-300 to develop coordinated engagement capabilities. JY-300 provides target instructions for surface ships, allowing Hongqi-9B ship-to-air missiles to intercept anti-ship missiles across the water antenna, thus allowing the formation of air-to-air interception capabilities to take a step forward.

Radars on AEW aircraft will also become smarter, allowing them to scan and identify targets intelligently, while independently protecting themselves from jamming. They will also be able to better allocate resources and will be more user-friendly.

The drone features easy control and maintenance, high reliability and long service life. It is suitable for reconnaissance and monitoring of helicopters, ships and even anti-ship missiles, the designer said, adding that it can make autonomous takeoffs, flights and landings. The drone can be mounted with sea-target detection radar, synthetic aperture radar and optical and electronic surveillance apparatus, according to Rong.

The JY-300 has an operational range of more than 1,000 kilometers, a flight altitude of about 5 km and can detect fighter jets from around 50 km away, sources from the institute said. They said engineers will continue to upgrade the model to extend its flight range and altitude and also make it capable of detecting stealth aircraft.

Wu Peixin, an editor at Aerospace Knowledge, said other military drones are able to monitor and track ground targets but cannot detect aircraft or ships, so they are not fit for early-warning operations. The JY-300 is characterized by its low production and operational costs and long flight time, and therefore can be deployed on a large scale along with a naval task group in oceangoing missions, he said.

Such a craft will enable users to improve their capability for detecting and tracking low-flying targets on the sea, thus enhancing their fleets' safety, Wu said. He suggested that countries that want to field aerial early-warning systems but cannot afford manned early-warning aircraft could consider the JY-300.

Before the JY-300, China Electronics Technology Group, the Chinese military's largest contractor of radar systems, brought a host of early-warning systems to the international market, including the Silk Road Eye early-warning plane. The plane features a new type of active phased array technology that other types in the market do not have, making it very competitive, the company said.

In the future, the Chinese Navy�s airborne early warning system may consist of three parts, ship-borne fixed-wing early warning aircraft, early warning helicopters, and early warning drones. They can be combined to form a more rigorous maritime early warning system, or they can be used separately for different occasions. In addition, the international market has a relatively large demand for such an unmanned airborne early warning aircraft. China Electronics Technology Group believed that JY-300 will have a good performance in the international market.