Good news .....
China's mainstay J-11A jet fighter has been refitted with an upgraded avionics packages to warn of incoming missiles, according to a report published Friday by Shanghai-based news website New Outlook.
The web portal suggested that several protruding additions observed on either side of the fuselage and in front of the cockpit canopy, in photos released by China Military Online, a website sponsored by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, may be sensors for an ultraviolet band-based missile approach warning system.
The website said that similar protrusions on the aircraft's rear vertical stabilizers may also be avionics sensors, indicating the fourth-generation fighters are likely equipped with 360-degrees missile detection coverage.
The website also suggested that the J-11A fleet's heads up displays have been upgraded to large LCD displays instead of conventional analog dials and gauges.
The upgrades could put the aviation electronics capabilities of the J-11As above even the newer J-11B variant.
The first J-11 series was introduced in 1998 and were still being built J-11As in 2010, the web portal said.
The website said it is logical for China's armed forces to continue upgrading and modernizing the country's standing fighter fleet in light of their lengthy remaining service life.
J-11 fighters are based on an airframe design copied from the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter, which entered service in the USSR air force in 1985.
Built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the J-11 saw the development of several additional variants for different combat roles based on the same airframe.