China purchased two Learjet 36A business jets from the United States in April 1984. An additional three examples in the Learjet 35A variant were acquired in 1985. Officially, these aircraft were operated by the then Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for surveying, mapping and flood monitoring roles, but in reality they were flown by the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) 34th Air Division from its base at the Nanyuan Airfield in Southern Beijing for tactical reconnaissance role.
All of these aircraft were specially modified to carry optical cameras and other reconnaissance equipment. At least two of these aircraft were fitted with the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) manufactured by Loral Defence Systems. These radar systems were sold to the Beijing-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in the mid-1980s. Some of these highly secretive aircraft were deployed in Southern China during the 1980s Sino-Vietnam border conflicts to collect the intelligence of the Vietnamese forces.
As a result of the U.S.-led military embargo since 1989, China was unable to import spare parts necessary for the maintenance and upgrade of these SAR systems. This possibly led to the U.S.-made systems being replaced by Chinese indigenous designs. The Electronic Research Institute of the China Academy of Science successfully tested an airborne SAR system in the late 1990s.
The five aircraft are still flying today, carrying the NRSC logo and special HY98X registration numbers. The aircraft can be identified by a large black-colour mission equipment pod under the fuselage.
