TOKYO -- In a live-fire drill held Saturday, Japan's Self-Defense Forces highlighted its airborne warning and control system (AWACS) plane E-767, noting the importance of intelligence gathering.
Nikkei reported on May 20 that China has set up in the Xinjiang desert an object that appears to be modeled on Japan's AWACS plane. Satellite photographs showed a dummy of an AWACS-mounted plane with two engines, that looked like the E-767. Only Japan's Air Self-Defense Force is known to use the twin-engine model. It operates four of them, all based in Hamamatsu Air Base.
