China’s new J-11D multirole fighter jet is much closer in capability to the old version of the Russian Su-35 fighter designed in the 1980s than the modern variant of the jet, says the Kanwa Defense Review, a Chinese-language military magazine based in Canada.
The J-11D, which conducted its maiden flight in April this year after more than four years in development, is an upgraded variant of the J-11B indigenized multirole fighter. The J-11D adopts the body structure of the J-11B but uses substantially more composite materials, particularly in the vertical tail and wing sections. It also has a weapons station that could reach 12 to 14 pylons.
With a new aerodynamic structure and antenna combined with increased stealth capabilities and improved field of vision, the J-11D is said to shedding the original design features of the Russian Su-27, the jet the J-11 was originally based on.
The J-11D, which conducted its maiden flight in April this year after more than four years in development, is an upgraded variant of the J-11B indigenized multirole fighter. The J-11D adopts the body structure of the J-11B but uses substantially more composite materials, particularly in the vertical tail and wing sections. It also has a weapons station that could reach 12 to 14 pylons.
With a new aerodynamic structure and antenna combined with increased stealth capabilities and improved field of vision, the J-11D is said to shedding the original design features of the Russian Su-27, the jet the J-11 was originally based on.
With a new aerodynamic structure and antenna combined with increased stealth capabilities and improved field of vision, the J-11D is said to shedding the original design features of the Russian Su-27, the jet the J-11 was originally based on.
Russia’s older version of the Su-35 was also based on the Su-27, though since the turn of the century the country’s designers have been able to modernize the aircraft into a superior new version that also has the designation Su-35. The new and improved Su-35 has a reinforced airframe, improved avionics and radar, thrust-vectoring engines, and a reduced frontal radar signature, enabling Russia to bridge the gap between its legacy fighters and the fifth-generation Sukhoi PAK FA.
According to Kanwa, the J-11D is likely closer in capabilities to the old version of the Su-35 than the new one as China has been unable to make the kind of leap Russia has been making due to inferior technology and a less developed aviation industry.
While the Kanwa report does not rule out that the J-11D could be equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar as some outlets have reported, it believes it is more likely that the J-11D will be fitted with a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar.
China first showed off its PESA radar technology, developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, at a domestic military expo in 2012, while it has been reported that the project to develop an AESA radar was commenced by the China Leihua Electronic Technology Research Institute around 2005.
Russia, China and European countries currently all have AESA radar systems in the testing phase. While Russia and China have the ability to equip the new Su-35 and the J-11D with AESA radars, they have chosen to use PESA radars instead because they lack sufficient grasp of the technology compared to their US and Japanese counterparts, who have been developing AESA radars for more than 25 years, Kanwa said.
China, in particular, is still struggling to figure out how to manufacture and reduce the costs of producing AESA transmit/receive modules and AESA antennae, meaning the People’s Liberation Army likely won’t be able to introduce AESA radars until at least the next variation of the J-11, the J-11E, or even the J-11F, Kanwa added.
If the J-11D is indeed still using PESA radars, then it cannot compete with the modernized Su-35, which has been dubbed the “ultimate” upgraded version of the Su-27. To improve the detection capabilities of the Irbis-E PESA radar fitted in the Su-35, power consumption has been drastically increased while generators and hydraulic pumps have all been newly designed. The power consumption of the Irbis-E is three times more than that of the Pero passive electronically scanned array radar Russia exported to China, meaning that even if China wanted to equip the J-11D with Irbis-E radar, it would not be able to.
The Irbis-E can detect a 3-square-meter aerial target at a distance of 400 kilometers and can track 30 airborne targets and engage eight of them at the same time. If the J-11D is equipped with a PESA radar then its capabilities will likely be closer to the old Su-35, which can track only 15 airborne targets and engage six simultaneously and has a much shorter detection range of just 60-150 kilometers, Kanwa said.
SOURCE: WANT CHINA TIMES
Russia’s older version of the Su-35 was also based on the Su-27, though since the turn of the century the country’s designers have been able to modernize the aircraft into a superior new version that also has the designation Su-35. The new and improved Su-35 has a reinforced airframe, improved avionics and radar, thrust-vectoring engines, and a reduced frontal radar signature, enabling Russia to bridge the gap between its legacy fighters and the fifth-generation Sukhoi PAK FA.
According to Kanwa, the J-11D is likely closer in capabilities to the old version of the Su-35 than the new one as China has been unable to make the kind of leap Russia has been making due to inferior technology and a less developed aviation industry.
While the Kanwa report does not rule out that the J-11D could be equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar as some outlets have reported, it believes it is more likely that the J-11D will be fitted with a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar.
China first showed off its PESA radar technology, developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, at a domestic military expo in 2012, while it has been reported that the project to develop an AESA radar was commenced by the China Leihua Electronic Technology Research Institute around 2005.
Russia, China and European countries currently all have AESA radar systems in the testing phase. While Russia and China have the ability to equip the new Su-35 and the J-11D with AESA radars, they have chosen to use PESA radars instead because they lack sufficient grasp of the technology compared to their US and Japanese counterparts, who have been developing AESA radars for more than 25 years, Kanwa said.
China, in particular, is still struggling to figure out how to manufacture and reduce the costs of producing AESA transmit/receive modules and AESA antennae, meaning the People’s Liberation Army likely won’t be able to introduce AESA radars until at least the next variation of the J-11, the J-11E, or even the J-11F, Kanwa added.
If the J-11D is indeed still using PESA radars, then it cannot compete with the modernized Su-35, which has been dubbed the “ultimate” upgraded version of the Su-27. To improve the detection capabilities of the Irbis-E PESA radar fitted in the Su-35, power consumption has been drastically increased while generators and hydraulic pumps have all been newly designed. The power consumption of the Irbis-E is three times more than that of the Pero passive electronically scanned array radar Russia exported to China, meaning that even if China wanted to equip the J-11D with Irbis-E radar, it would not be able to.
The Irbis-E can detect a 3-square-meter aerial target at a distance of 400 kilometers and can track 30 airborne targets and engage eight of them at the same time. If the J-11D is equipped with a PESA radar then its capabilities will likely be closer to the old Su-35, which can track only 15 airborne targets and engage six simultaneously and has a much shorter detection range of just 60-150 kilometers, Kanwa said.
SOURCE: WANT CHINA TIMES