doggychow14 said:
he's talking about the kj-2000 not the y-8 balance beam.
Yeah, my bad, I just realised it.
On the 2000 there are some unsubstantiated opinions:
the original dome was an analogue, we know that because in an earlier series of available shots with the aircraft landing, the dome is in different positions on the approaches - hence it's rotating.
later models are believed to be using the dome but fixed - there are believed to be 3 different ESA's mounted inside (based on whats known of the Russian Il-76 AWACs sets, and based on work the Israelis have done on in the past.
One of the very early iterations of the platform does also show a Star of David Roundel that has been washed out, but is plainly visible. I did have an enhanced image of that aircraft in my archives but can't find it.
So there are at least 3 mules using different systems.
Then there is the fixed ground station which has a fixed radome as well - indicating that it is also an ESA solution. The aircraft rotate out of this location indicating that there might be handoff tests in progress between the GCI adaptation and the aircraft.