Photos of Chinese carrierborne AEW emerges

After being caught on the ground by Google Earth, the first photos of China's future carrier-borne Airborne Early aircraft, based on the Y-7 transport, have recently emerged.

With four vertical stabilizers like the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, which would allow it to fit inside an aircraft carrier's hangar deck without the complexities of a folding tail, this test bed seems lack the tail hook and it is unclear if it has folding wings, but with China's carrier ambitions still in it's infancy, there should be some time to allow China's aircraft manufacturers to sort those out.

Google Maps reveals China's new carrier-based AEW

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Google Earth/Map's latest imagery of China's Xi'an-Yanliang airfield, home of the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (西安飞机工业) and the China Flight Test Establishment, has revealed what appears to be a Airborne Early Warning (AEW) platform based on the Xi'an Y-7 transport aircraft. There were already reports (and blurry photos) purporting to be the Chinese Y-7 AEW on Chinese defence sites and forums a while back and this latest satellite photos would lend further credence to those reports. Speculation is that the Y-7 AEW is to be a carrier-based AEW platform, similar to the E-2 Hawkeye in U.S Navy service.

Hat-tip to @Combatair on Twitter.