J-11B (Flanker-L) Chinese Air Superiority Fighter

J-11B – Indigenously-produced version using Chinese technology, and the first J-11 variant to use the WS-10A turbofan. The airframe is slightly lighter due to greater use of composites. It has new avionics, a glass cockpit, MAWS, and onboard oxygen generator system. Upgrading to AESA radar may have been planned. Photos of China's latest, very long range PL-15 missile on a J-11B may well indicate the undergoing upgrades of AESA radar to the aircraft. More recently aircraft have been spotted with light grey radomes which may indicate ongoing upgrades. The controversial J-11B is an unauthorised derivative of the Sukhoi J-11A/Su-27SK, built by Shenyang in China. The aircraft has been the subject of an ongoing dispute between Beijing and Moscow which has caused the suspension of production of the second batch on indigenously manufactured legally licenced J-11A/Su-27SK. The J-11B is not an exact clone of the Su-27SK, despite the commonly held view this is so. The airframe and engines can be considered to be 'cloned' but the systems are mostly unique to this variant. Known differences include: A Chinese IRST set located in the centreline position as with the OLS-27 in early Su-27S. A planar array multimode radar which resembles the Phazotron Zhuk-27 series. It includes an IFF interrogator array. An Onboard Oxygen Generator System (OBOGS). Only the most recent Russian variants have an OBOGS. A unique glass cockpit design, with an asymmetric layout quite different from the Su-30MKK/MK2 and Su-27SMK. An optical MAWS system claimed to operate in the UV band. Dielectric panels on the stabilators not seen on any Russian variant. The differences between the J-11B, Su-27SK and Su-27SMK are sufficiently great that this must be considered a unique offshoot of the Flanker family of fighters, not a subtype of the baseline Su-27SK/J-11A. Chinese sources claim that the J-11B variant deployed with PLANAF units, such as the 22nd Fighter Regiment, 8th PLAN Fighter Division, is designated the J-11BH. In 2011 images emerged of the prototype of the J-11BS which is an analogue of the Su27UBK, with the PLANAF variant claimed to be the J-11BSH.