China Flanker Thread II

[siegecrossbow]

MiG-31 has a PESA named 'Zaslon' not an AESA.

On the flip side, not having a pitot tube is no indication of an AESA. JF-17, F/A-18C/D don't have AESA at the same time they don't have the pitot tube either.

EDIT:

Mitsubishi F-2 has an AESA but also has a small pitot tube

So do F-16Vs.

 

[KIENCHIN]

Absolutely no connection at all. Pitot tube is used to measure air speed. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't have one. The plane should have one somewhere because it is essential.

I know what the pitot tube is for, all i am saying is planes with an AESA usually does not have one on the nose cone. As Hyperwarp has pointed out the Japanese F1 has one and it has a AESA

 

[Deino]

Well it seems as if there are at least already two J-11BGs with that light grey radome available.
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[Pika]

Well it seems as if there are at least already two J-11BGs with that light grey radome available.
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View attachment 55023

First time hearing about the J-11BG. What's the difference between them and J-11B. Is it a new variant WS-10 engine or AESA radar upgrade?

 

[ougoah]

First time hearing about the J-11BG. What's the difference between them and J-11B. Is it a new variant WS-10 engine or AESA radar upgrade?

Answer is just a page back. But our assumptions are that it has a new radar possibly the same (or very similar) AESA unit on the J-16 as hinted at by leaker. This could be combined with other improvements who knows. Hopefully weapons suite is updated as well to accept newer missiles.

 

[Schwerter_]

Well it seems as if there are at least already two J-11BGs with that light grey radome available.
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View attachment 55023

There's rumor that these two 11BGs are from a different unit than the first one (which is from 1st brigade and most likely had a AL-31F before upgrade, current engine unclear)so it seems that the J-11BGs are more common than we first thought.

BTW Shilao (who's quite close to Yankeesama and generally quite credible) said that the J-11BG upgrade are likely to be performed by maintenance centers (possible bad translation by me here) instead of SAC. Cant say how significant this piece of info is so I'll just leave it here.

 

[Tam]

There's rumor that these two 11BGs are from a different unit than the first one (which is from 1st brigade and most likely had a AL-31F before upgrade, current engine unclear)so it seems that the J-11BGs are more common than we first thought.

BTW Shilao (who's quite close to Yankeesama and generally quite credible) said that the J-11BG upgrade are likely to be performed by maintenance centers (possible bad translation by me here) instead of SAC. Cant say how significant this piece of info is so I'll just leave it here.

I have a feeling that these planes are being converted either in the base or in some maintenance center near the base. The BGs are never spotted in Shenyang in any prototype form.

 

[Tam]

First time hearing about the J-11BG. What's the difference between them and J-11B. Is it a new variant WS-10 engine or AESA radar upgrade?

Most likely change from mechanical Slotted Array radar into AESA, along with complementary changes in the back end and avionics. This alone is a mighty big change. Engine change to WS-10 is likely a separate affair once the AL-31F engines live out their lives.

Please don't use the term Pulse Doppler Radar to describe a Slotted Array like so many Internet people do because Pulse Doppler has nothing to do with the antenna design. Its simply a means of detecting and measuring motion. Any high frequency pulse radar would use Pulse Doppler techniques to determine motion regardless whether the antenna is mechanical like Cassegrain or Slotted array, or AESA. The other alternative to that is MTI or Motion Target Indicator which is used with pulse radars but works on longer frequencies. This is more common with AEW aircraft and naval search radars.

 

[Schwerter_]

I have a feeling that these planes are being converted either in the base or in some maintenance center near the base. The BGs are never spotted in Shenyang in any prototype form.

Agreed. At the moment I dont think SAC has any production capacity left to upgrade existing flankers

 

[siegecrossbow]

Fitting AESA radars on legacy platforms like the J-11B is consistent with a statement made by a Chinese radar academician a year ago. He stated that older J-10/J-11 will be fitted with AESA radars. This isn’t surprising since The J-11B still forms the backbone of China’s air defense. Developing a completely new variant that will be obsolete within one or two decades (like the J-11D) isn’t as economical as making radar and avionics upgrades.