Foreign Media: China Considers New Wing-Root Radar Architecture to Enhance Fighter Situational Awareness
According to a report published on the Military Watch Magazine website on November 2, 2026, Chinese aircraft designers have proposed a novel airborne radar configuration that embeds large antenna arrays within the wings of fighter aircraft. This approach would enable smaller unmanned platforms to perform surveillance missions traditionally fulfilled by dedicated airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. The concept was detailed in a paper authored by a research team affiliated with the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute—responsible for developing the J-20 fifth-generation fighter—published in China’s Journal of Measurement and Control Technology on October 10. Rather than relying on a large radome mounted atop the fuselage, the system leverages the surface area of the wings and coordinates multiple aircraft to achieve broader radar coverage. While widely interpreted as a wing-root radar solution, the paper may also point toward a new configuration for airborne early warning and control systems.
This proposal reflects a broader shift in airborne surveillance toward distributed architectures: multiple relatively small platforms working in concert to deliver detection and tracking capabilities previously achievable only through single, large aircraft. Conventional systems employ large radar arrays typically housed in prominent structures atop the fuselage. These systems offer wide-area surveillance and command-and-control functions but require dedicated aircraft that are costly, highly visible, and dependent on suitable airfields. Distributing radar functions across multiple drone platforms reduces reliance on a few high-value surveillance assets while enhancing operational flexibility.
The Chinese researchers propose integrating radar antennas, control electronics, and associated equipment directly into the wing structure. During level flight, the radiating surfaces face downward, covered by a fairing conformal to the wing’s contour. This arrangement provides a relatively large aperture without the need for traditional dorsal radomes or bulky external pods. However, the wing’s inherently thin cross-section presents significant engineering challenges, limiting space available for high-performance radar modules, power systems, cooling components, and other critical hardware.
A core feature of this concept is leveraging aircraft maneuvers to alter radar coverage. Since the antennas are embedded within the wing and oriented downward during cruise, their field of view is inherently restricted. Researchers suggest that aircraft can roll beyond 45 degrees, tilting the wing and redirecting the radar beam toward different sectors of the sky. By combining such maneuvers with electronic beam steering, the platform could theoretically scan areas outside its optimal line of sight. The platform must balance flight trajectory, radar pointing requirements, and assigned surveillance sectors while maintaining sufficient stability for precise target tracking. Multiple aircraft can monitor different sectors, but total coverage depends on formation geometry, coordination capability, and the speed of information exchange.
Development of wing-root radars is not unprecedented; both Russia’s Su-35 and Su-57 fighters—already in service—employ similar designs. The operational effectiveness of these Russian implementations remains unclear. However, China’s acquisition of a squadron of 24 Su-35 fighters in the mid-2010s provided an opportunity for analysis of this approach. China’s own wing-root radar integration scheme is likely far more complex, reflecting the advanced state of its defense industry. In pursuit of enhanced situational awareness, Chinese defense developers are exploring multiple innovative pathways, including the new KJ-3000 airborne early warning aircraft, which features a unique hybrid tracking system employing a rotating dome-mounted active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. This design maximizes the effective aperture size of a single antenna to detect low-observable targets at extended ranges.
Disclaimer: All equipment data cited herein originate from reports published on Military Watch Magazine.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1880805381780480/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.