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Liu Zhen

China has unveiled a metre-wave radar that can detect American fifth-generation stealth fighters, such as the F-22 and F-35, according to state media.
The JY-27V radar, which is mounted on a military truck for mobility, works with very high frequency (VHF) radio waves.
It can capture and locate “extremely stealthy targets” and guide an air-defence system for a precision strike, according to its developer, state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC).
It unveiled the JY-27V at a radar expo in Hefei, Anhui province, that ran from Saturday to Monday.


The radar featured a massive panel of active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna that could unfold and start operation in a few minutes and fold up for rapid evacuation, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday. The antenna’s automatic folding and unfolding was smooth and quiet, CETC scientist Xu Haizhou was quoted as saying.
The JY-27V is an upgrade from the JY-27A, with a bigger antenna, lower frequency, larger power aperture and refined intelligence algorithms, which increase its ability to detect stealth targets, according to CETC.
“The larger the antenna diameter, the farther the range of detection is,” Xu told the media at the expo.
The radar’s predecessor, the JY-27A, was unveiled at the 2016 Zhuhai air show together with the YLC-8B, an ultra-high frequency (UHF) radar also designed for anti-stealth surveillance.
Earlier that year, the Chinese navy said it had detected “unidentified targets” in the air defence identification zone over the East China Sea and scrambled aircraft to intercept.
Those targets were later said to be US Air Force F-22s. It is believed the People’s Liberation Army may have used the JY-27A or YLC-8B – or both together – to detect the stealth fighters from more than 250km (155 miles) away.
The VHF radar uses radio waves typically from 30-300MHz – with wavelengths from 1-10 metres (3.3-33 feet), while the UHF’s frequency is 300-3,000MHz and wavelength is 0.1-1 metre.
The radar-absorbing coating on existing fifth-generation stealth fighters can only reduce echo on wavelengths of 0.01-0.1 metres, which can be concealed from traditional microwave radars but cannot evade detection by metre-wave radars. Moreover, the planes’ larger parts, such as wings and tails, would have strong electric resonance with VHF or UHF waves, meaning there is “no hiding” in front of the radars of these bands.
Meanwhile, metre-wave radars have disadvantages that hinder the application of the technology, including a blind zone at low altitude, difficult landscape matching, discontinuous airspace coverage and low precision of detection. And the antenna cannot be smaller because it needs to be big enough for long wavelengths, making it an easy target for an enemy’s pre-emptive strikes.


But CETC said it had overcome the challenges and kept optimising its world-leading three-coordinate metre-wave radars.
“We have done a lot of work in materials, integration level and user-end software processing to solve these core problems,” Xu said, adding that the JY-27V boasted high detection, precision and mobility.
At the event, CETC showed other advanced radars, such as long-range early warning radar similar to the American PAVE PAWS (Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System) and other strategic ballistic missile detection and interception technology, and a motorised S-band multi-function radar for missile tracking.


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The CETC radar works with VHF radio waves and can be truck-mounted and folded for rapid set-up and evacuation


The CETC radar works with VHF radio waves and can be truck-mounted and folded for rapid set-up and evacuation.


China aims new JY-27V radar at stealthy targets, such as America’s fifth-gen fighters

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The CETC radar works with VHF radio waves and can be truck-mounted and folded for rapid set-up and evacuation

The CETC radar works with VHF radio waves and can be truck-mounted and folded for rapid set-up and evacuation