China Flanker Thread II

[SinoSoldier]

Here's another one.View attachment 13401

That's not the J-11D, but rather the J-11B tested that was used to evaluate the radar thereof.

 

[yuxiaochen]

J-11D number 1101 new radar, more composite material used, and Taihang engines

 

[siegecrossbow]

The J-11D is by no means an outdated platform. Most of the world's air forces will rely on 4.5 generation fighter aircraft as their main workhorses in the first few decades of the 21st century, including that of the United States and Russia. Even first-tier air forces like those of North America or Western Europe will continue to rely on "legacy" airframes, as fifth generation platforms are procured in low numers due to costs.

The PLAAF still has hundreds of third- and fourth-generation aircraft to be supplemented or ursurped, and it would be quite silly to think that the PLAAF has the budget to do so with the J-20 or J-31.

I couldn't agree more.

In the foreseeable future, Fifth Generation fighters will only occupy the niche of "specialists" in most air forces. Unless you are as rich and powerful as USAF, replacing your fourth/third generation fighters with F-35s on an one-to-one basis is not a good idea.

 

[no_name]

J-11D number 1101 new radar, more composite material used, and Taihang engines
View attachment 13406

Looks a bit like J-10B nose. btw Changing nose would affect the rest of the plane's aerodynamics yes?

 

[yuxiaochen]

Looks a bit like J-10B nose. btw Changing nose would affect the rest of the plane's aerodynamics yes?

I believe the nose is not from J-11B but a whole new design, or maybe the shading has tricked me
and yes changing the shape of the nose would have some effects on the plane's aerodynamic, though i'm not an expert in this field..

 

[SinoSoldier]

J-11D number 1101 new radar, more composite material used, and Taihang engines
View attachment 13406

Wow; this certainly puts to bed the notion that a gray radome is implicit of an AESA radar.

 

[Blitzo]

In addition to the aforementioned strike capability and need for non stealth airframes in the forseeable future of any air force, planes like J-10B/C, J-16, and J-11D are also platforms with powerful and modern radars that can exploit the range of new BVR AAMs to support stealth fighters. Having their own inbuilt EO IRSTs are also useful and I wouldn't be surprised if a datalinking ability were also present to allow sharing of EO IRST information to better detect stealth targets, like Lockheed's Legion EO IRST pod. I also expect all those planes to field relatively advanced datalinks that can communicate to 5th generation fighters, other 4.5th generation fighters, but also coordinate better with AEW&C, airborne ECM planes, ELINT planes, and even UAVs in future.

So we should see all these new planes not only in their strike and air to air capability but also as multirole information/communication nodes, which in a system of systems approach to waging an air war is vital and where the more you have and are able to field effectively the more powerful your overall fighting capability becomes.


The development between J-11B and J-11D somewhat reminds me of the USN's F-18E/F blocks i and ii. both J-11B and block i superhornet fielded older mechanically scanned arrays, with older cockpits, older avionics and older weapon capabilities, and J-11D and block ii superhornet use mostly the same airframe as their predecessors but field newer AESA radars, new weapons, new avionics, newer cockpits (not confirmed obviously, but certainly expected for J-11D), and with certain capabilities possibly able to be refit to older J-11Bs and block i superhornets namely the AESA radar.

Of course there are some differences between the parallels, J-11D might feature improved engines relative to J-11B whereas blocks i and ii superhornet used the same engine, and J-11D probably features IFR probe which J-11B lacks but both superhornet blocks have.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Looks a bit like J-10B nose. btw Changing nose would affect the rest of the plane's aerodynamics yes?

In this case I don't think that it's the shape of the nose that affects the aerodynamics. More likely it is the weight of AESA radar that the engineers need to account for.

 

[yuxiaochen]

according to some military "experts" on weibo, the J-11D will also have the ability to carry and fire PL-10 from its wing tips.

 

[Air Force Brat]

J-11D ? What happened to the J-11C ? If I understand it correctly the J-11D is an upgraded J-11B with an AESA radar, better engines and a lot of other electronic and avionic improvements which most of them can be found back on the J-16. Now according to Boeing they were able to make improvements on the Hornets based on their experience building the X-32 JSF tech demonstrator. The same will likely be true for Shenyang and the Flankers with the J-31 project.

But the question is also isn't it late in the day to be investing in a new Flanker variant with the rise of the fifth generation fighters all over the world. The US has the F-22 and the F-35, the Russians with their SU-PAK FA and China with its own stealth fighter programs the J-20 and the J-31. Not to mention that the allies of the US including Japan and South Korea are getting the F-35 and the Indians are getting their specialized version of the SU-PAK FA. On top of that Japan, India and South Korea are all trying to build their own stealth fighters aside from their imports. Is the Flanker not an outdated platform and China should focus its resources on the J-20 and perhabs the J-31 ?

Interesting theories, but no, if you don't have the production capacity/technology required to mass produce 5 gens, you better be building lots of 4.5 gens and load em up with as much practical technology as you can?? The US is still building the F-15, Great Britain and Germany the Eurofighter, and France the Rafael?? So why shouldn't Russia and China continue to build hi-zoot Flankers??