The Shenyang J-11 with NATO reporting name: Flanker B+ is a single-seat, twin-engine jet fighter aircraft based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO reporting name: Flanker) air superiority fighter produced by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the sole operator of the aircraft.
In 1995, China secured a $2.5 billion production agreement which licensed China to build 200 Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27SK aircraft using Russian-supplied kits. Under the terms of the agreement, these aircraft would be outfitted with Russian avionics, radars and engines. However, only 95 of the original aircraft were delivered and the contract for the remaining 105 is still pending. It is believed that Russia cancelled the arrangement in 2006 after it discovered that China had reverse-engineered the technology and was developing an indigenous version, the J-11B. China however insists that it requested Russia to cease deliveries of the aircraft because it could no longer satisfy the PLAAF's requirements. The J-11B variant while lacking the latest Russian features, does incorporate various Chinese modifications to the airframe in addition to the inclusion of Chinese avionics and weaponry.
The J-11 was finally born in 1995 as a Chinese version of the Sukhoi Su-27SK air superiority fighter. However, in 2004, Russian media reported that Shenyang co-production of the basic J-11 was halted 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. The alleged reason for the sudden stop in the production line of the J-11 was the obsolete avionics and radar, which were structured for aerial missions. The PL-12 a active radar-guided air-to-air missile developed by China's Luoyang Electro-Optical Technology Development Center, range reported to be close to 100km, Wingspan 670mm, weight 200kg.
With a contract of an initial 200 J-11 allowed to be produced in Shenyang under the Chinese-Russian contract made in the 90's, the PLAAF decided to update the J-11 with domestic radar, avionic suites, manufacturing methods and material upgrades to extend the life of the aircraft in service.
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 21.9 m (71 ft 10 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 (37,192 lb)
- Loaded weight: 23,926 kg (52,747 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 33,000 kg (73,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Lyulka AL-31F or Woshan WS-10A "Taihang" turbofans
- Dry thrust: 75.22 kN / 89.17 kN (16,910 lbf / 20,050 lbf) each
- Thrust with afterburner: 123 kN / 129.4 kN (27,600 lbf / 29,101 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h, 1,550 mph) at altitude
- Range: 3,530 km (2,070 mi)
- Service ceiling: 18,500 m (62,523 ft)
- Rate of climb: 300 m/s (64,000 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 371.0 kg/m² (76 lb/ft²)
- Thrust/weight:
- Dry: 0.66
- With afterburner: 1.04
- G-limit: 9 g
Armament
- Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 cannon with 150r
- Hardpoints: 10: 2 under fuselage, 2 under air ducts, 4 under wings, 2 on wingtips and provisions to carry combinations of:
- Missiles:
- PL-12
- PL-9
- PL-8
- Vympel R-77
- Vympel R-27
- Vympel R-73
- Missiles:
- Rockets: Unguided rocket launcher
- Bombs: Free-fall cluster bombs
Avionics
- Fire-control radar: NIIP Tikhomirov N001VE Myech coherent pulse Doppler radar. J-11B to be equipped with AESA radar.
- OEPS-27 electro-optic system
- NSts-27 helmet-mounted sight (HMS)
- Gardeniya ECM pods
