J-11
Contents
Description
The J-11 (歼-11型歼击机; NATO Codename: Flanker-B), aka Su-27SK by Sukhoi or 苏-27 in PLAAF manuals, is one of the main composition of modern PLAAF's interceptor fleet since the early 1990s as the overseas solution to upgrade the outdated-PLAAF. By 1989, soon after the improving of Sino-Soviet relationships and the nationwide riots during the economic reform, the only viable solution to upgrade PLAAF was from USSR due to the subsequence embargo imposed by NATO countries; a group of military staffs of PLAAF soon departed for USSR to import the latest interceptors of USSR. Initially, the VVS promoted the MiG-29 to Chinese generals during their visit to Kubinka Airbase, but the generals soon spotted the state-of-the-art interceptor - Su-27S - in the airbase and later crash of the Fulcrum during demonstration flight made PLAAF go for the Flanker. After series of meetings and an interesting behind-the-scene story, the deal was set to purchase the 38th and 39th batches of Su-27S at around USD $1 Billion for 24 jets (18 Su-27SK and 6 UBK twin-seater) and 22 jets respectively. After the fall of Soviet Union, PLAAF saw the possibilities to purchase the production license of Su-27SK in 1993. After threats for no further jets would be ordered from KnAAPO and a long negotiation with the now-Russia Federation, 200 Su-27SK would be assembled by SAC within 15 years since 1996; the licensed Su-27SK, now called J-11A would increase domestic production rate through the 5 batches. The design of Flanker alongside with its blueprints and punched tapes were further refined by Chinese engineers with the help of CAD, revising the redundancies on the original design and eventually set the foundation for J-11B (Flanker-L) and future Flanker derivatives.
Introduced in Update "Air Superiority" as part of the upgrade, J-11 shares identical performance to its Soviet counterpart even though being an export variant; thanks to its well refined aerodynamic design, power engines, loads of A-A weaponries and sufficiently powerful radar/IRST, J-11 leads PLAAF into the current apex of air battles. While its sheer size and inferior electronics can be a problem in different occasions, J-11 will not disappoint players with its iconic features.
General info
Flight performance
In short words: the overall flight performance is identical to Soviet's Su-27. Thanks to the well-refined airframe which took almost a decade to design, Su-27 series is famous for its great manoeuvrability even at its huge size, to put it in perspective: Su-27/J-11 is almost 4 m longer than MiG-29 series at 21 m, while it is at very similar length to PLAAF's own J-8II series, the large, trapezium wing still makes it the overall largest PLAAF interceptor up to present day (including the domestic refined J-11B and later variants). In first glance, players might consider such a huge jet doesn't have as much manoeuvrability as MiG-29 series; when they eventually have the chance to fight J-11, they will soon know that it will be a hassle to handle, thanks to the FBW systems, airframe designs and two powerful AL-31F engine that gives almost average T/W ratio at 1.0, most earlier jets from lower BR will have major problem handling J-11. When players expect to see an stall-out Flanker, what they might see is that: their own jet will be the first one to stall out before the Flanker eventually stalls out, sometimes even performing the iconic Pugachev's Cobra - where the jet can achieve up to 110° AoA at such speed while pulling the control stick and level out at the same altitude, therefore players might want to think twice before engaging J-11.
But just like what the introduction mentioned, the problem is also its sheer size. Considering for its 21x14 m size, it is also easy to land shots or missiles upon J-11 if players make an error during aerial dogfights; any damaged part of the airframe will significantly increase drag of Flanker and thus higher risk of being shot down. Be sure to utilize its manoeuvrability in solo fights, not gang fights with very little reaction time and room for errors - one wrong move can be its demise. As for the Pugachev's Cobra, it is more of aerobatics than a tactic to reverse the battle, it is never a good idea to show the largest possible surface area to enemy guns.
| Characteristics | Max speed (km/h at _,___ m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | ___ | ___ | 16000 | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ___ |
| Upgraded | ___ | ___ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ||
Details
| Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear | Drogue chute |
| X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 1,540 | 700 | - | 652 | 600 | ~__ | ~__ |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 680 | < 750 | < 700 | - |
Engine performance
| Engine | Aircraft mass | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine name | Number | Basic mass | Wing loading (full fuel) | ||||
| Saturn AL-31F | 2 | 16,990 kg | 426 kg/m2 | ||||
| Engine characteristics | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) | Max Gross Weight | |||||
| Weight (each) | Type | 13m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 44m fuel | ||
| 1,520 kg | Afterburning low-bypass turbofan | 19,810 kg | 21,184 kg | 23,281 kg | 26,390 kg | 34,489 kg | |
| Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB) | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP) | ||||||
| Condition | 100% | WEP | 13m fuel | 20m fuel | 30m fuel | 44m fuel | MGW |
| Stationary | 7,450 kgf | 12,028 kgf | 1.21 | 1.14 | 1.03 | 0.91 | 0.70 |
| Optimal | 7,450 kgf (0 km/h) |
15,640 kgf (1,540 km/h) |
1.58 | 1.48 | 1.34 | 1.19 | 0.91 |
Survivability and armour
By 1980s, to further reduce the weight, most interceptors were not equipped with extra armor plates for both the pilot and critical components; this is no exception for the Flanker series, thus the pilot can face fatal hits from both autocannons or missile shrapnel.
Meanwhile, all the 5 fuel tanks onboard are self-sealed, meaning that with the help of researchable fire extinguishers, the J-11 can save itself from fatal structural failure in case of a fire.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
| Ballistic Computer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCIP (Guns) | CCIP (Rockets) | CCIP (Bombs) | CCRP (Bombs) | Lead indicator |
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Offensive armament
The J-11 is armed with:
- 1 x 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon, wing root-mounted (150 rpg)
- 96 x large calibre countermeasures
Suspended armament
The J-11 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 kg OFAB-100 bombs | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | |||
| 250 kg FAB-250M-62 bombs | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1, 2 | |||||
| 250 kg OFAB-250-270 bombs | 1 | 1, 2, 6 | 1, 5 | 1, 4 | 1, 2 | 1, 5 | 1, 2, 6 | 1 | |||
| 250 kg OFAB-250Sh bombs | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1, 2 | |||||
| 500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1, 2 | |||||
| 500 kg FAB-500Sh bombs | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1, 2 | |||||
| ZB-500 incendiary bombs | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1, 2 | |||||
| S-8KO rockets | 20, 40 | 20, 40 | |||||||||
| S-13OF rockets | 5, 10 | 5, 10 | |||||||||
| S-25O rockets | 1, 2 | 1, 2 | |||||||||
| S-25OF rockets | 1, 2 | 1, 2 | |||||||||
| S-25OFM rockets | 1, 2 | 1, 2 | |||||||||
| R-27ER1 missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| R-27ET1 missiles | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| R-27R1 missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| R-27T1 missiles | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| R-73E missiles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 1,500 kg | |||||||||||
| Default weapon presets | |
|---|---|
| |
The J-11's arsenal is entirely Soviet, which presents interesting new opportunities for pilots used to Chinese top-tier aircraft. It is oriented as an air superiority fighter, lacking any guided air-to-ground munitions, but it has some tricks up its sleeve when the airspace is more permissive to CAS.
Two families of air-to-air missiles are available, the R-73 and the R-27. The R-73E is a functionally identical export version of the R-73 short-range, IR-guided missile seen on later Soviet aircraft like the MiG-29SMT and the Su-25T. It has a great 40 G overload, a thrust vectoring system that helps it maintain sustained hard turns, and ECCM to help resist flares. Compared to the domestic PL-8, it's generally an all-round improvement aside from the lower top speed. R-73s can be mounted on any of the six wing hardpoints.
The R-27 comes in radar-guided (R-27R1 standard, R-27ER1 extended-range) and IR-guided (R-27T1 standard, R-27ET1 extended-range) flavors and are the J-11's main armament for medium and long range combat. The "1" suffix denotes export variants, but again they happen to perform identically. The R-27ER1 is the J-11's best weapon for BVR combat, as its extreme speed and long range allow it to win jousts against targets with slower missiles. The R-27ET1 is a great option for distant sneak attacks as it does not give any RWR warning to its target. R-27s can be mounted on any of the four fuselage pylons and also the inboard wing pylons, but the catch is that the IR-guided -T1 and -ET1 can only be mounted on the inboard wing pylons, and are thus limited to at most 2.
Three types of unguided rockets are available, all carried as double racks on the inboard wing pylons. The S-8KO HEAT rocket comes in large pods and is significantly better than its domestic Chinese equivalent (Type 90-1) with greater penetration, flight speed, and capacity. However at the J-11's battle rating, such weapons are rather questionable for jet fighters as they have issues harming MBTs from the front and have a limited effective range. The S-13OF can be considered a heavier and more powerful cousin to the Type 130-2 HE rocket with a bonus of one extra rocket per pod; it can destroy light targets through splash damage at fair distances and direct hits can still crack open MBTs with some luck. The S-25O heavy bunker-buster previously featured on the Su-25 is a unique tool lacking any equivalent in the domestic Chinese arsenal; it carries only one shot per pod and packs more explosive content than a 100 kg bomb. It may seem like a crude weapon for an elegant air-superiority fighter, but in typical Soviet ground attack fashion the S-25O can blow anything on the ground to smithereens through brute force.
The J-11 is also an impressive bomb truck, ironically outclassing or matching the JH-7A fighter-bomber. Iron bombs are available in sizes of 100, 250, and 500 kg. Incendiary and high-drag bombs are available in the 500 kg size.
Usage in battles
Although PLAAF deemed Su-27SK, aka J-11 as the main composition of PLAAF in 1990s and early 2000s, they did have plans to introduce the more advanced domestic avionics to replace the OEM equipment. As for J-11, although it has flawed avionics with inferior RWR and unreliable radar, the sheer payload and maneuverability can make it a great alternative to ROCAF's F-16A in air battles while retaining sufficient but less advanced means for ground attack operations.
- Air Battle - The Far East Flanker
The concept of Flanker series are solely for air-interception missions; just looking to the overall payload of J-11, it still leave the trace of Soviet air-defense doctrine of intercepting enemy bombers with SARH missiles. But before players can unleash missile hell against enemy jets, R-27T1 and R-73E will be the only options for the J-11 at early stages; while R-73E is known for their maneuverability even at close distance and sufficient tracking radius against enemy targets, players will need to get used to a major rule of top-tier battles: always aim for those who didn't launch flares to interfere with the missile seeker. In most cases, jets within the 4 km radius of J-11 can be potential prey of R-73E as they are likely be concentrated on taking out friendly jets; thanks to the HMD on J-11 and great overload of R-73E, players can employ some of the most impressive maneuvers to make sure the missile is within the firing range. In most cases, unless enemy jets launched flares in very short interval, they will become easy prey for the missile. As for the R-27 series, both the E and R series with IR/radar seeker are the the best friends of J-11 thanks to their impressive thrust and overload at long distance; as long as the missile can keep on the track with enemy targets, both high and low-altitude targets will become an easy prey for players while earning more experiences for other usages.
But when players have the need to gun down enemy jets in dogfights, while the powerplants and design of J-11 can make sure it can sustain long enough dogfight before it took out enemies or the arrival of friendly jets, as mentioned in previous paragraph, it is better leave the J-11 as an interceptor to take out any high-altitude targets who also planned to take out the friendly targets with SARH or ARH missiles (i.e. F-14B), thus players have to keep a keen eye on any radar signals on the SPO-15LM RWR or from its N001E radar. Make sure to pick the best possible target to dealt with as this can also help friendlies to secure the victory of battle, as well as evading enemy tracking radar as much as possible which gives them as little reaction time as possible - it is always better to take out enemy targets before they even have the chance to fire upon friendly targets, which can in turn affect the morality of enemy team as well.
- Ground Battle - The Long-time Tradition
Among the Chinese community, there were a saying that "Anything in PLAAF must come with ground-attack capabilities using unguided rockets". This is in fact true for J-11 in this case as there are many images from PLAAF showing Su-27SK or future J-11B series carrying Russian/domestic rocket pods for ground attacks. The Flanker family is known for their interception capabilities but the rather abundant payload is also a good platform for ground-attack operations albeit lacking any precision munitions; pylons on J-11 is totally identical to Su-27S with multiple payload point, when players think a Flanker is nowhere an attacker, it does in fact have even more bombs in quantity to Chinese domestic JH-7A (30 250 kg bombs vs 22 250kg bombs) in case players want to cause extensive damage to enemy armored column. Players can also go for even more bombs with 100 kg bombs or better kill radius with 500 kg bombs, depending on the playstyle and the composition of enemy vehicles, it is always a good idea to carry varieties of bombs for heavy targets while leaving the rocket pods (twin pods) to handle light vehicles; for example, the FAB-500 series is a good idea to take out heavy targets in stationary or armored columns, while leaving B-8 or B-13 rocket pods against light vehicles or SPAAs. But as a thumb of rule of Flanker family in-game: always plan for your assault when entering the battlefield as enemy SPAAs or fighters would want to hunt down enemy jets as well. Thanks to the CCIP and CCRP onboard, J-11 can employ both high-altitude or low-altitude approach against enemy targets, either by bombing a certain area filled with enemy vehicles or evading SPAAs before unleashing hell against enemy players. If the skies are full of enemy jets which SPAA systems could not handle, it will also be a good time to utilize the great missiles on J-11 ranging from R-73E up to the devastating R-27ER1; it is always a good idea to pick careless players that are too concentrated on ground-attacks.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Impressive maneuverability
- Powerful AL-31F engine for maximum thrust and acceleration
- FBW control with great maneuverability even at low speeds
- Up to 10 missiles at once with flexibility for both long and short range combats
- IRST for concealed detection of enemies
- Large fuel tanks without the need for drop tanks
- Devastating 30 mm autocannon to tear down enemy targets
- Large pool of air-to-ground ordnance with up to bombs or rocket pods
Cons:
- Huge target
- Inferior electronics especially the RWR and radar
- Relative low ammo pool for the autocannon
- Lacks precision weapons for safer ground attacks appoaches
History
The Komsomolets from Far East
The Su-27 (NATO: Flanker) series were one of the top secrets of the Soviet Union since its introduction in 1985 with the PVO (Su-27P interceptor), which was deemed not-for-sale during the early days of its service as the USSR promotes their MiG-29 series to their allies and potential customers. By May 1989, Mikhail Gobachev made his historical visit to Mainland China amid Chinese's nationwide protests for reform; however, the protests soon escalated to riots and resulted with the sanctions from NATO countries for any further military projects. Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, the last Minister of Defense in future, saw the possibilities to sell fighter jets to Mainland China. After the halt of J-8II Project 8-2 and the commence of Project 8-3, PLAAF has dire need for new interceptors to fill in the gap as ROCAF would soon acquire Mirage 2000-5 and F-16A Block 20; a team of general staff led by Liu Huaqing (刘华清) went to USSR in May 1990 and for the purchase of Soviet fighter jets as the Project 90-6 (906工程). During the talks, Chinese knew the existence of PVO and VVS' Flankers and changed their mind as soon as the general staffs saw the Flanker in Kubinka Airbase; soon after the crash of a MiG-29 during demonstration flight later in September, Flanker became the obvious choice for PLAAF general staffs.
There was a very interesting story behind the negotiations: according to the memories from Lin Hu (林虎), the vice-commander of PLAAF at the time, to defeat the "Ustinov's Rule", named after Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov (ex-Minister of Defense of USSR) where Soviet general staffs would use vodka as a way to negotiate for military aids/sales, PLAAF general staff found an officer who is "immune to alcohol" and eventually "took down" all Soviet general staffs in Beijing, earning a discounted price for the Flankers.
Soon after the negotiations, USSR general staffs said there were possibilities to export Flankers to Mainland China; before the collapse of the Red Giant, Soviet Union agreed for the sales of 18 Su-27SK and 6 of its twin-seater variant, Su-27UBK at US $1 billion as the 38th batch of Su-27 produced by KnAAPO (Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant); these jets were all delivered in November 1992. Soon after the introduction of Flankers in PLAAF service, PLAAF went for the production license of Su-27S and threatened the Russians with no further orders after the 39th batch (22 jets); this later led to a long negotiation since August 1993 and eventually set the deal in December 1996, where 200 Su-27SK would be produced by SAC within 15 years. SAC would receive the CKD kits of Su-27SK from KnAAPO to be assembled locally, while future jets would be SKD kits with progressive rate on domestic parts; the Project 11 (11号工程) lead by Li Ming (李明; chief engineer of J-8II) soon received the documents in 1995 for the preparation of domestic assembly, the engineer team translated the documents for a year. With the manufacture equipment and SKD kits delivered to Shenyang in Spring of 1998, SAC assembled a complete jet with the help of Russian engineers and the first domestic assembled Su-27SK, now J-11A "Blue 49" with batch number 0001, soared into the skies on 1st September, 1998, marking one of the page of cooperation between Mainland China and Russia 4 decades after the split.
The J-11A series would be produced for another 4 batches (01xx to 04xx) before SAC finalized and digitalized the Flanker for domestic improvements, which would later known as the J-11B (Flanker-L) since 2006; while some J-11A received domestic and Belarusian upgrades for upgraded FCS and avionics. The Su-27SK and J-11A have been decommissioned by 2020s, likely been replaced by Chinese Flankers; while the Su-27UBK are still in service in small quantities as lead-in trainers for units operating Flankers.
Media
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See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
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- topic on the official game forum;
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| Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (中航工业沈阳飞机工业(集团)有限公司) | |
|---|---|
| Jet Fighters | |
| MiG-15 | J-2* |
| MiG-17 | J-4* |
| MiG-19 | J-6A* |
| J-8 | J-8B · J-8F |
| Su-27 variants | J-11* |
| Export | Shenyang F-5* |
| *Licensed Note: "J-2" and "J-4" are not official designations | |
| See Also | Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau |
| China jet aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | J-2 · J-4 · Shenyang F-5 · J-6A · J-7II · J-7D · J-7E · J-8B · J-8F · J-11 |
| Strike aircraft | Q-5 early · Q-5A · Q-5L · A-5C · JH-7A |
| Bombers | H-5 |
| American | ␗F-84G-21-RE · ␗F-84G-31-RE · ␗F-86F-30 · ␗F-86F-40 · ␗F-100A · ␗F-100F · ␗F-104A · ␗F-104G · ␗F-5A · ␗F-5E · ␗F-16A MLU |
| Soviet | ␗MiG-9 · ␗MiG-9 (l) |
