China’s 'eyes in the sky' multiply, India’s surveillance fleet faces a numbers game

New satellite imagery shows four of China's KJ-3000 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft at the Xi'an Aircraft Company factory at Xi'an-Yanliang, raising the possibility that the type is moving into serial production. The imagery, captured on October 5 and provided by Vantor, shows three KJ-3000s near the factory and a fourth at the nearby China Flight Test Establishment, US based think tank Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies assesses that four aircraft point to serial production.The KJ-3000, also called the KJ-20, is based on the four-engine Y-20B transport with Chinese-made engines. It has a large circular radome above the rear fuselage and an aerial refuelling probe above the cockpit. The first poor-quality photographs appeared in December 2024, and clearer images followed in May 2025.