J-11 In Thunders View.......

Beginning of J-11 In the 1970s, Shenyang Aircraft Factory proposed to design a light fighter powered by the British Rolls-Royce Spey 512 engine, but otherwise similar to the MiG-19 then in service. Known as the J-11, the project was abandoned due to difficulty in obtaining the engines….. Codenamed `Flanker' by NATO, the J-11 [Su-27 / Su-30MKK / Su30MK2] is a multi-role fighter bomber and air superiority aircraft which can also be used in the maritime strike role. The Flanker has an operational radius of around 1500 km, and is equipped with an inflight refuelling facility extending their radius by another 500 km. Although normally configured for conventional operations, the J-11 could provide China with a high-performance nuclear-capable strike aircraft. The acquisition of Su-27, after China had attempted for years to develop the J-10 aircraft with equivalent technology to perform similar functions, demonstrates a lack of confidence in domestic industrial capabilities. Since China received its first 4th-generation Su-27 fighter in 1992, training, tactics and operational concepts progressed slowly as China integrated the new technologies and capabilities into the force structure. This protracted learning phase has allowed China to prepare for the introduction of larger numbers of 4th-generation aircraft into its inventories. By 2002 new Su-27s and Su-30s had been more rapidly integrated into operational units. Meanwhile, air combat tactics continue to evolve and training became more advanced. Jane's Defense Weekly reported on March 31, 2004 that by early 2004, China had received some 154 Sukhoi aircraft (this number does not include roughly 100 aircraft built in China), mostly Su-27SK fighters, and that by the end of 2004 roughly 273 Sukhoi fighters will be in service

Su-27SK Purchases In 1991 China purchased an initial batch of 24 single-seat SU-27s for about $1 billion which were delivered in late 1992 and based at Wuhu Air Base, 250 kilometers west of Shanghai. In May 1995 China purchased a second batch of 24 SU-27 aircraft through Russia's main state-run arms exporting company Rosvooruzheniye. These were delivered in April 1996 and based at Suixi Air Base in Southern China. The 48 Su-27-type aircraft include 36 one-seat Su-27SK manufactured in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and 12 two-seat Su-27UB manufactured in Irkutsk, worth a total of 1.7 billion dollars. In February 1996 Moscow and Beijing reached a $2.2 billion agreement for Chinese co-production of the Sukhoi Su-27. Under the initial agreement China would produce up to 200 aircraft [without the right to reexport the jets to third countries] from Russian-made components over three to five years. The total cost of the contract is $1.5 billion, including $650 million for technical documents and $850 million for parts, instruments and equipment provided by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Enterprise imeni Yuriy Gagarin [KnAAPO], which is to deliver around 30 percent of all completing parts for 200 Chinese SU-27SK jets. Russia has licensed coproduction of Su-27s to the Shenyang Aircraft Company, which can produce fifteen to twenty per year. In the period 1998-2000 Shenyang planned to assemble only 15 Su- 27SK fighters of the 200 permitted under the terms of the contract. The first two aircraft built at Shenyang flew at the end of 1998. By 2004, China had only received components kits for 95 aircraft, as a contract covering the additional 105 kits was still pending. At the end of 1999 it was anticipated that the Irkutsk aviation industrial association will deliver to China a total of 28 training and combatant Su-27UB fighters. The delivery would be implemented to repay the state debt, and 8 planes would be delivered to China within the year 2000, 10 planes in the year 2001 and 10 planes in the year 2002.

New J-11 The new J-11 is a Chinese version of the Sukhoi Su-27SK air superiority fighter. Sukhoi originally provided kits to Shenyang Aircraft Corporation upon an agreement in 1995, but over time there were to be increasing Chinese content in the aircraft, with up to 70% of all Su-27 ordered by the PLAAF to be Chinese-made. It has been reported that Sukhoi agreed to an upgrade program, allegedly in 2001, with improved radar and attack avionics. However, in 2004, Russian media reported that Shenyang co-production of the basic J-11 was stopped after around 100 examples were built. The PLAAF later revealed a mock-up of an upgraded multirole version of the J11 in mid-2002. It was equipped with Chinese anti-ship and PL-12 air-to-air missiles presumably for the role of a maritime strike aircraft.

J-11 The Chinese-built, Chinese variant of the Su-27SK with 70% components made in China, with some improvements over the original Su-27SK in the following areas: radar, flight instrumentation and added air-to-surface attack capability. •

Radar: the original N001 radar on Su-27SK purchased by China in the 1990s is replaced by its successor, N001V, which like N001, can also simultaneously track 10 targets. However, when engaging a target out of the 10 tracked, the original N001 radar would lose all of the rest 9 targets tracked, and must restart a new tracking process after the engagement. N001V radar on J-11 overcomes this shortcoming so that during the engagement, the rest 9 targets tracked would not be lost. The major internal structural difference between the two radars is that the original TS100 processor in the older N001 radar is replaced by a more capable TS101M processor in the newer N001V radar.

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Flight instrumentation: in comparison to Su-27SK with only one small CRT multifunction display (MFD), J-11 has a total of two by adding an additional one directly atop of the original small CRT MFD at the top right corner of the flight instrumentation dashboard. This new small CRT MFD is about the same size as the original one on Su27SK, and it is located to the right of HUD. Additional air-to-surface attack capability: The additional MFD is mainly used to control the electro-optically guided precision munitions such as TV guided or ImIR guided missiles in attacking ground and sea targets, since the domestic Chinese electro-optical pods and electro-optical guided precision munitions are extremely difficult to be directly integrated into the Su-27SK. The images and information for the electrical-optically guided munitions, as well as those provided by the domestic Chinese electro-optical pods can not be displayed on the original CRT MFD of Su-27SK, and they can only be displayed on the additional CRT MFD added. Despite this added air-to-surface attack capability, it must be noted, however, J-11 still lacks the full air-to-surface attack capability of later models because due to the limitation of the radar, the radar guided air-tosurface missiles can not be deployed.

J-11A J-11 with further radar and flight instrumentation upgrade, most notably with the adoption of EFIS in its avionics. •

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Radar: The N001V radar on J-11 is replaced by its successor, N001VE, which has the same tracking capability like its predecessor. The radar improvement is that in comparison to the older N001V radar which is only capable of single target engagement, N001VE is capable of simultaneously engaging two of the ten targets tracked with semi-active radar homing air-to-air missiles. The major internal structural difference between the two radars is that the original TS101M processor in the older N001V radar is replaced by a more capable BCVM-486-6 processor of the Baguet series processor in the newer N001VE radar. HMS: An improved domestic Chinese helmet mounted sights (HMS) first begun to appear on J-11A, which soon became standard on all versions of J-11, including retrofitting earlier J-11.

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EFIS: Most of the analogue dial indicators of the original Su-27SK are eliminated, replaced by four color MFDs, which are part of the overall EFIS system designed by China Aviation Industry Corporation I. There are three large MFDs that take most of the space of the flight instrumentation dashboard, with the MFD in the center is in a slightly lower position than the other two on the sides. A slightly smaller color MFD is located below the three MFDs, to the bottom right corner of the flight instrumentation dashboard.

J-11B This is the advanced version which uses more Chinese components, including radar, engine, and missiles. The chief program engineer for J-11B is Mr. Guo Dianman (郭殿满). China is interested in reducing its reliance on foreign technology for both cost reasons and a desire to improve its domestic research and design. It is reported that one regiment of J-11Bs are currently in service, but this seems to contradict with the latest information provided by the Chinese government: In May, 2007, the existence of J-11B was finally acknowledged by the Chinese government for the first time when the state-run Chinese TV stations first aired the report on J-11B in PLAAF service. However, the official Chinese report claims that there are only two squadrons of J-11Bs in service, instead of a regiment, which is consisted of three squadrons (as of end of 2007). According to the Chinese report, which is agreed by some western sources such as Jane's Information Group, the J11B is superior to Su-27SK in the following areas: •

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The wide adoption of composite material (mainly carbon fiber) for the surfaces, reducing the weight of the aircraft for more than 700 kg, while the life of the composite part is increased over 10,000 hours in comparison to the original part built from steel. Redesigned air inlets of engine intakes to reduce the radar cross section, this coupled with the adoption of composite material, and application of radar absorbent material has reduced the radar cross section (RCS) of 15 square meters of Su-27SK to just >3 square meters of J-11B. Full air-to-surface / sea capability is added and J-11B is able to launch various precision guided air-to-surface and air-to-sea munitions. Certified to be equipped with WS-10 (will be upgraded to WS-10A in the future) turbofan engine, which is claimed to be cheaper to operate

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than AL-31F. Incorporation of on-board oxygen generating system (OBOGS): With the exception of Su-35 and Su-37, J-11B is the first of the Su-27 (Reverse Engineered) family to incorporate such technology. Due to the adoption of western style design features such as fully digitized computerized controls and solid state micro-electronics, Chinese claimed that the domestic OBOGS is superior than the analog system Russia offered to China. A Chinese multifunctional pulse-Doppler fire-control radar reportedly capable of tracking 6~8 targets and engaging 4 of them simultaneously.[8] Fully digitized solid-state avionics have replaced the analogue set of the Su-27SK. In the mid-2007, the Chinese governmental television station CCTV-7 released news clips of Chinese pilots in the cockpits of J-11B, with the LCD of glass cockpit of J-11B clearly visible, despite that the official report itself only claimed replacing the original avionics with domestic Chinese fully digitized solid-state avionics, and nothing of EFIS or glass cockpit was mentioned. In comparison to the earlier EFIS on J-11A, the most obvious difference is that LCD MFDs on J-11B are aligned in a straight line, instead of the middle one being slightly lower. The arrangement, appearance and layout of MFDs and EFIS of J-11B are similar to the general design concept of the west. Missile Approach Warning System.

General characteristics • • • • • • • • •

Crew: 1 Length: 21.9 m (72 ft 0 in) Wingspan: 14.70 m (48 ft 3 in) Height: 5.92 m (19 ft 6 in) Wing area: 62.04 m² (667.8 ft²) Empty weight: 16,870 kg [1] (37,192 lb) Loaded weight: 23,140 kg (51,010 lb) Max takeoff weight: 33,000 kg (73,000 lb) Powerplant: 2× Lyulka AL-31F or Woshan WS-10A "Taihang" turbofans o Dry thrust: 74.5 kN / 89.17 kN (16,800 lbf / 20,050 lbf)[10] each o Thrust with afterburner: 123 kN / 129.4 kN (27,600 lbf / 29,101 lbf) [11] each

Performance • • • • • • •

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Maximum speed: Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h, 1,600 mph) Range: 3,720 km (2,010 nm, 2,310 mi) Combat radius: 2,000 km (1,240 mi) Service ceiling: 19,000 m (62,523 ft) Rate of climb: >325 m/s (64,000 ft/min) Wing loading: 371.0 kg/m² (76 lb/ft²) Thrust/weight: o Dry: 0.66 o With afterburner: 1.09 G-limit: 9 g

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Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 cannon Hardpoints: 10: 2 under fuselage, 2 under air ducts, 4 under wings, 2 on wingtips with provisions to carry combinations of: o Missiles:  PL-12  PL-9  PL-8  Vympel R-27  Vympel R-73 Rockets: Unguided rocket launcher Bombs: Free-fall cluster bombs

Avionics • • • •

Fire-control radar: NIIP Tikhomirov N001VE Myech coherent pulse Doppler radar OEPS-27 electro-optic system NSts-27 helmet-mounted sight (HMS) Gardeniya ECM pods