Here's what might be further evidence of China's quickly evolving efforts to field an aircraft carrier with a full on and modern air wing; grainy pictures of what's possibly a Chinese E-2 Hawkeye style airborne early warning bird.
Maybe they won't be able to operate off China's Shi Lang carrier, which uses a ski-ramp rather than catapults to launch jets but it could still support and protect the carrier and its battle group in the same way as the U.S. E-2s currently do.
It's one more sign that China is getting serious about fielding a real carrier strike group in the near future not just testing out how to fly a few fighters off a flat top.
Images via China Defense Blog.
