Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA6016
J-11BG 63109 Fighter PLA Navy, South China Sea, 2022
 
General Background
The Su-27S (NATO reporting name – Flanker) is a single-seat highly-maneuverable fighter aircraft built by Sukhoi Design Bureau as the Soviet response to the U.S. F-14 and F-15 and entered service in 1985. The primary role of the Su-27 was to provide defense against American bombers, USN ships and provide Soviet bomber escorts. There have been many improvements over the years resulting in numerous variants of the Su-27. The export variant, the Su-27SK was sold to China and eventually developed into the license-built Shenyang J-11.
 
The Aircraft 
The greatly improved version of the Su-27, the J-11B entered service in 2000 with more composite materials, modern avionics, a better fire control system and new turbofan-10B engines. Most J-11B nose cones are black but the new J-11BG wears a grayish-white cone. It is thought that there is a new active phased array radar that can detect targets at a greater range and angle. The J-11BG can be armed with the Thunderbolt 10 and 15 missiles as well as PL-15 long-range Air To Air missiles.