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Significance Of Highly Maneuverable And Air Superiority J-11B Fighter Jet For PAKISTAN AIR FORCE:
PAKISTAN AIR FORCE is seriously pursuing and reviewing the possibilities of acquiring the several squadrons of the CHINESE Next Generation Highly Maneuverable And Air Superiority J-11B Fighter Jet from its Iron Brother PAKISTAN. The upgraded and modernized variant of J-11B has entered mass production by the Shenyang Aircraft Company under the CHINESE-State owned Aviation Industry Corporation of CHINA, commonly known as AVIC.

Amongst other upgradation internals, the J-11B Fighter Jet is equipped with the Next Generation Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar from the initial version of Pulse-Doppler radar. The upgraded and modernized version of J-11B Fighter Jet with the newly added AESA radar spotted at the PAKISTAN CHINA Shaheen-IX Joint Air Drills.
Interestingly, the cones of the AESA Radar that participated in the Shaheen-IX Joint Air Drills are painted in the White as opposed to the black cones in the previous generations of J-11B. It indicates that these Aircraft are built for PAKISTAN AIR FORCE.
Targeting Pods of J-11B:
CHINA’s state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has equipped with the J-11B with the modernized indigenous targeting pods for OC2 and WMD-7. These targeting pods have the laser designator of 15 Kilometers and a targeting range of 20 Kilometers.

PAKISTAN’s Iron Brother CHINA has also indigenously made the lethal LT Series Guided Bomb. These laser guided bombs were similar to the Russian KAB-500L and American Paveway laser guided bombs.
It is pertinent to mention that TURKISH Firm Aselsan has signed a contract with its Iron Brother to integrate the ASELPOD Electro Optical Targeting System on to PAKISTAN’s indigenous JF-17 Fighter Jet. The contract was signed with an amounting to $24.9 million for the supply of 16 ASELPOD Targeting System back in 2017.
Comparison between J-11B and indian air force Rafale Fighter Jet:
There are different parameters in the comparison between the CHINESE J-11B Air Superiority Fighter Jet and indian air force Rafale jet. The key comparison between both the jet are mentioned below in the chart.
Feature |
J-11B Fighter Jet |
Indian Rafale Jet |
Description |
Role |
Air Superiority, Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft |
Multi-role |
|
Maximum Speed |
Mach 2.25 |
Mach 1.8 |
Altitude and High Speed considered as Critical Asset for BVR Engagements |
Engine |
2 x Shenyang WS-10A “Taihang” Enhines |
2 x Snecma M88 |
|
Radar |
J-11BG AESA Radar |
RBE2-AA AESA Radar |
CHINESE AESA Radar can detect over 450KM range as compared to rafale’s 280km range |
Combat Range |
1500 Kilometer |
1850 Kilometers |
|
Avionics |
OEPS-27 Electro-optic system; Fire-control Radar: NIIP Tikhomirov N001VE Myech Coherent Pulse Doppler Radar, or Type 1474 Radar; Gardeniya ECM Pods |
Thales/SAGEM-OSF Optronique Secteur Frontol IRST System; SPECTRA Electronic Warfare System |
|
Armament Options: |
|||
Hardpoints |
Total 10: 4 Under Wings, 2 under Air Ducts, 2 Under Fuselage and 2 on Wingtips |
13 with maximum capacity of 9,500 kg including ordnance and external fuel |
|
Missiles |
PL-15 BVR, PL-12 BVR, PL-9 BVR, PL-8 BVR, Vympel R-73 and Vympel R-27 |
SCALP, AASM-Hammer, MICA IR OR EM, Magic II, Exocet, Mark 82, Meteor, Paveway and ASMP-A Nuclear Missile |
J-11B’s PL-15 BVR Missile has a range of 300 Km as compared to 180km of Rafale’s Meteor Missile |
Gun |
1 x 39 mm (1.18 Inches) Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 Cannon with 150 Rounds |
1× 30 mm (1.2 in) GIAT 30/M791 Auto-cannon with 125 rounds |
With all weapons. J-11B can easily exceed the range by over 30% due to its lower fuel capacity and lightweight |