An Open source satellite imagery spotted Chinese JY-27A anti-stealth Radar in Pakistan at the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) M.M. Alam Air Base.
According to Jane’s Defence Weekly, satellite imagery captured on 29 August has revealed a China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) JY-27A counter-very-low-observable (CVLO) radar at Mianwali Air Base (AB) in Pakistan. Imagery examination indicates the radar arrived between 5 June and 29 August and was not yet fully erected as of 2 September.
The sale of the JY-27A to Pakistan has gone unnoticed in the open press, with most air-defense-related reporting concerned with Pakistan’s desire to import advanced Chinese surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.
According to China’s Global Times newspaper, a senior Chinese radar designer said at a recent interview that China has developed a meter wave anti-stealth radar that can be used to spot enemy stealth aircraft and even guide Chinese missiles toward them.
Speaking to the newspaper, Wu Jiangqi, a senior defence scientist at China Electronics Technology Group, a state-owned electronics giant which creates of a variety of applications for civilian and military use, including radars, said that meter wave radar “can fulfill the requirement” of detecting enemy stealth systems with high precision “as long as they are designed to serve this purpose.”
The radar could be deployed on vehicles, on land, and warships, the Global Times reported quoting the Chinese military officials.
“As long as they are designed to serve this purpose, meter wave anti-stealth radars can fulfill the requirement,” Wu Jianqi, a senior scientist at the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) who conducts researches and designs anti-stealth radar, said when asked in an interview with the Naval & Merchant Ships magazine whether a meter wave radar can guide missiles to shoot down stealth aircraft.
Meter wave radars can detect stealth aircraft because modern stealth aircraft are mainly designed to avoid detection by microwave radar, and are less stealthy to meter wave radar, military experts noted.
