J- 11B fighter jet variant enters batch production: reports

An improved variant of China’s J- 11B aircraft has reportedly entered batch production, and experts said on Thursday that this type of heavy fighter jet has possibly received upgrades on its radar system that can increase its situational awareness and combat range.

The Shenyang Aircraft Co Ltd under the stateowned Aviation Industry Corporation of China ( AVIC) finally wrapped up all test flight missions for aircraft in scientific research batch production for this year on December 18, AVIC announced on its Sina Weibo account on Wednesday.

A J- 11B fighter jet with a white- colored radar dome is featured in photos attached to AVIC’s Weibo post, reported Weihutang, a China Central Television program on military affairs. Most of the previous J- 11B fighter jets use radar domes in black, the report noted.

While some J- 11Bs that use white radar domes were spotted in recent reports on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army ( PLA) Air Force, it was not immediately clear if they were only temporary paint or a part of a technical demonstration, Weihutang said.

Since AVIC said this time the aircraft belongs to a scientific research production batch, it means the upgraded J- 11B with the white radar dome is confirmed to have entered batch production, Weihutang further said.

It is not known what improvements this type of new J- 11B variant has received, but analysts said that it could be equipped with an advanced active electronically scanned array ( AESA) radar to replace the previous pulse- Doppler radar, reports said.

“Some of the photos of the new J- 11B variant show that the aircraft still has a pitot tube on the center front of its radar dome, and usually the pitot tube has compatibility issues with an AESA radar, so if the aircraft is indeed equipped with an AESA radar remains to be determined,” Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Thursday.