A bilateral air exercise between China and Thailand concluded in late August after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) deployed what is believed to be a new Electronic Warfare/Signals Intelligence (EW/SIGINT) aircraft overseas for the first time.
The aircraft, which has been designated the Y-9LG or High New 13, was one of 13 aircraft from all three branches of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) which took part in Exercise Falcon Strike at the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) base at Udon Thani in northern Thailand, running from 18 to 29 August.
Like many of China’s indigenously developed special mission aircraft, the Y-9LG is based on the Shaanxi Y-9 turboprop airlifter. This subvariant was only known to have entered service with PLAAF in 2022, having been in development since at least 2017.
The aircraft at Falcon Strike was in low-visibility national markings and carried the serial 30211, indicating it was from the PLAAF’s 20th Special Division. It can be identified by a prominent “balance beam” dorsal antenna similar to Saab’s Erieye radar and that fitted to China’s earlier KJ-200 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, as well as several prominent fairings and antennas for its specialised mission.
The latter include a Satellite Communications (SATCOM) dome on top of its forward fuselage, side panels on its rear fuselage believed to house SIGINT antenna suite and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) antennas on its wingtips and at the top of the vertical tail.
The balance beam antenna is believed to house an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar which, owing to its configuration, does not have 360° target tracking capability. China has instead developed the KJ-500 AEW&C aircraft which is fitted with a non-rotating disk-shaped radar dome fitted with three separate AESA radars for all round coverage.
It is likely that the AESA radar on the Y-9LG is used as a jammer, using its emissions to suppress adversary sensors. China is continuing to develop a series of such aircraft for a variety of special missions including airborne command posts and intelligence gathering.
This is the first time the PLA has deployed such an aircraft overseas for an exercise, having previously only deployed combat and AEW&C aircraft for training events outside of China. Last year’s edition of Falcon Strike saw the KJ-500 deployed for the first time, and this year’s exercise also saw the deployment of one such aircraft.
The air combat element at this year’s exercise comprised six Chengdu J-10 multirole fighters, a pair of Shenyang J-11 interceptors as well as a pair of Xi’an JH-7 fighter bombers. Also present was a single Mil Mi-171 transport helicopter which conducted special forces and Combat Search and Rescue training with a Thai Airbus EC725 (H225M) helicopter.
Host Thailand was also represented by its Saab JAS-39 Gripen multirole fighters, a Saab 340 AEW aircraft and Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet light combat aircraft.
This is the seventh iteration of Exercise Falcon Strike since the inaugural event in 2015. Despite being a treaty ally of the US, Thailand has bolstered its defence relations with China in recent years, with the Thai military currently operating tanks, armoured personnel carriers and an amphibious assault ship acquired from China.
It is also in the midst of an effort to buy diesel-electric submarines from China, although the program has suffered from numerous challenges – including the refusal by Germany to supply engines.