

Where might China actually confront enemy air defenses? Of course SEAD aircraft would have application in a conflict with Taiwan or, more unlikely, Japan. In any case, it is not even clear to what extent the J-16D will be adopted.Īfter all, China is more famous for how its own missile systems serve in its antiaccess/area-denial strategy. However, one limitation would be the lower payload that the J-15s can carry, due to the maximum takeoff weight limitations imposed by the Chinese carriers’ ski-jump-style decks.
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The J-15 Flying Shark fighters on China’s two Type 001 carriers also share common heritage in the Flanker family of aircraft, and pursuing a similar upgrade of the two-seat J-15SD seems plausible. If Beijing wanted to, it could probably develop a carrier-based equivalent to the J-16D. New Xianglong “Soaring Dragon” drones may also have application as tactical jammers. These include a couple dozen Y-8GX and Y-9GX transports equipped with tactical jammers and other electronic-warfare gear, and HD-6 electronic-warfare planes based on the H-6 bomber. However, the Flying Leopard lacks electronic warfare equipment integrated in the airframe, and is thus more limited as an electronic-warfare platform than a purpose-designed aircraft.Ĭhina also maintains a modest fleet of larger, slower aircraft that can provide jamming support at standoff range. Both the base JH-7 and upgraded JH-7A have been photographed with jamming pods, which boast multiple jamming transmitters. Capable of long-range operations and maximum speed of Mach 1.75, the Flying Leopard can carry about twenty thousand pounds of munitions, including anti-radar missiles. Of course, the J-16D could carry most of the other armaments that the basic Red Eagle fighter can carry on its underwing hardpoints.Ĭhina already flies another fighter bomber with electronic warfare capabilities, the domestically designed two-seat JH-7 Flying Leopard, around 240 of which serve in the PLA Air Force and Naval Air Force. Finally, there is an LD-10 ARM missile derived from the PL-12 antiaircraft missile. China also has a indigenously developed copy of the Russian Kh-31P missile, known as the YJ-91, which has slightly longer range and also has antiship applications. The CM-103 missile has a range of sixty-two miles and is probably accurate enough to hit naval and ground targets with its 176-pound warhead. China has three different types of anti-radiation missiles (ARM), which are designed to home in on enemy radars from afar.
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It is thought that these jammers may also use AESA technology.Įven with a maximum load of electronic-warfare gear, the J-16 would have six of its twelve hardpoints free to carry weapons. Most likely, it would carry two to three jamming pods the under the wings and fuselage, each optimized versus different radar frequencies. If the J-16D’s airframe has integrated hardware to make jamming and anti-radar missiles more effective, it probably is designed to use jammers and anti-radar missiles. Let’s move on now to the realm of plausible speculation. That’s all that’s known for sure-the PLAAF, after all, is not in the habit of giving detailed briefings about its latest fighters. These are electromagnetic sensors that can analyze radar frequencies and help determine the position of radar-transmitting devices-data that would be highly useful both for jamming radars and for targeting them for destruction. Most importantly, new electronic-warfare pods are mounted on the wingtips that resemble the American ALQ-218 electronic support measure pods on the wingtips of the EA-18G Growler. The J-16D’s nose radome is reshaped, possibly to accommodate a more advanced AESA radar. The J-16D has had its thirty-millimeter cannon and infrared sensor removed this is not a plane intended to get into short-range dogfights! Instead, there are several new antennas and conformal electronic-warfare arrays along the fuselage. Let’s go over the admittedly short list of what the photo tells us.

Photos were released to the public three days later.

The J-16D variant-the “D” in the designation comes from the Chinese word for “electronic,” diànzǐ-made its first flight on December 18, 2015. While China has had major problems developing reliable high-performance jet engines, it’s more successful at producing advanced electronics, perhaps due to crossover with its civilian electronic sector. The two-seat Red Eagle is roughly comparable to the American F-15E, and improves upon the Russian original with new avionics including an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar (AESA), the current state of the art in fighter-based radar technology. The aircraft in question is a variant of the two-seat J-16 Red Eagle strike plane-itself a Chinese copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKK Flanker.
