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 / Su-

30MK2] 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 J-
11 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.
 • 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 Su-
27SK, 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-to-
surface 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.

• 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.
 • 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 J-
11B is superior to Su-27SK in the following areas:

• 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
 • 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

• 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

Armament

• 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