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| Kamov Ka-31Airborne Early Warning Aircraft |
International Military - The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA) deployed the Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopter from the Type 075-class carrier. It is known that the Ka-31 is a helicopter supplied from Russia.
This also applies to China, which wants to expand its new warship capabilities. According to Military Watch Magazine, a Ka-31 was spotted on the aircraft carrier Guangxi. It is the second Type 075 class ship to enter service.
Three warships of the class are currently in service and are equivalent to the US Navy's Wasp Class and American Class Ships. In this case, it is the helicopter from Russia, the Ka-31.
The Ka-31 is known to be relied on to provide greater situational awareness for the two carriers of the Liaoning and Shandong navies. The helicopter first entered service in 1995 and was integrated into the air wing of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
Although China's aircraft carrier program is considered far ahead of Russia, the country remains interested in the Ka-31. China's interest in the Ka-31 was first reported in 2013. This came after the Indian Navy had placed several orders from 1999.
However, it is known that the Ka-31 variant in Chinese service is the most advanced. This is done with a significant improvement in their avionics compared to the previous model. Since the aircraft is based on the Ka-27 airframe which is being produced for use in nearly 20 countries, there is little problem with restarting production to fulfill Chinese orders.
Launching military-wiki.com, early warning aircraft are special aerial combat vehicles. The aircraft is equipped with a powerful radar system and is capable of detecting dozens of long-range targets. In modern air combat, early warning aircraft play a very important role in enhancing the ability to coordinate battles between combat vehicles.
The Russian Ka-31 Airborne early warning and control helicopter, with a unit price of about $23 million, is a solid addition to any Navy unit. So far, there are already more than 35 aircraft in service with the Russian, Chinese and Indian navies.
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In addition, one of the distinctive visual features of the Ka-31 is the large antenna of the early warning radar, which rotates or folds and is stored under the fuselage.
The second is the reduction of the large electro-optical sensor suite under the cockpit. It also includes a retractable landing gear to prevent interference with the radar.
The Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopter radar has a 360° range and can spot aircraft-sized targets from a distance of 150 km. Surface ships are visible from a distance of 100-200 km. The radar can track 30-40 targets simultaneously.
The helicopter also has a datalink to transfer target tracking data to the command post. Lastly, most commonly, the Ka-31 is also equipped with GPS and a digital terrain mapping system.
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