New carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft spotted in China

The new model of Y-7J (03) carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft was spotted in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.

That was reported by military-informant.com.

The prototype of the new aircraft was established on the model aircraft carrier in Wuhan Province. The model aircraft carrier is estimated at being 300 meters (984 feet) long and 80 meters (262 feet) wide. The model is complete with a helicopter landing pad and a model of a carrier-borne aircraft.

The Y-7J looks like a hybrid of soviet Antonov An-26 transport aircraft and American E-2 Hawkeye carrier-capable AEW aircraft. The front half of Y-7J is based on the Xian Y-7, the Chinese version of the famous Antonov An-26; the tail section is much similar to the Northrop Grumman C-2 and, above all, the E-2 Hawkeye that is the U.S. AEW platform serving on all the American supercarrier.

The length of the new aircraft will be about 21 meters, with a wingspan of 27 meters will be. Plane Y-7J (03) can reach a maximum flight speed of 700 km / h, and the range will be about 2300 km.