After receiving information about the start of deliveries of Russian multipurpose Su-35S fighters to the Chinese Air Force, as well as about the serious successes of the Celestial Empire in the development of promising AFAR radars for light multipurpose fighters of the 4 ++ generation J-10B and stealth vehicles of the 5th Generation J-31, the Indian Ministry of Defense and leading state defense-industrial giants (DRDO and HAL) have significantly intensified the process of cooperation with Russian aircraft manufacturing giants through the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC). So, for example, after the Aero India-2017 aerospace exhibition was held at the Indian Yelakhanka airbase, it became known about the final stage of preparing the documentation as part of the contract for the modernization of the Su-30MKI super-maneuverable transitional fighters in service with the Indian Air Force. During the first upgrade, Sushki can receive new display equipment for the pilot's and operator's dashboards based on sensor MFIs (similar indicators are installed in the F-35A and Advanced Super Hornet cockpits); in the second stage, it is planned to install a more advanced airborne radar with AFAR instead of the N011M Bars radar. Also, the Indian Air Force command set out to improve the radio technical capabilities of the Su-30MKI aircraft fleet due to the lack of expensive optical and electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the Tu-214R type, and signed a contract with the Israeli IAI for the purchase of suspended container radars of the EL / M-2060R type. At the same time, there is no particular progress in fine-tuning the new avionics (including radar with AFAR) for AMCA and Tejas fighters.
It would seem that the matter again went to the establishment of military-strategic parity between Delhi and Beijing, but that was not the case: to ignore the sharp strengthening of its main enemy in the Indo-Asian-Pacific region on the Chinese side was an extremely ill-considered step. The answer was not long in coming: judging by the information from official Indian sources, the Pakistani aircraft building monopoly Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, with the support of the Chinese Chengsu Aircraft Corporation, created a promising modification of the JF-17 Thunder multipurpose tactical fighter (FC-1 Xiaolong ). This has caused grave concern in the highest circles of the Indian defense ministries, and not by accident.
During the initial stage of development of the FC-1 "Xiaolong" under the "Super-7" program, in the late 80s, the main goal of the Chengdu company was to create a modern light multi-role fighter of the 4th generation, capable of completely replacing the fleet of outdated aircraft. type J-5 (MiG-17), J-6 (MiG-17) and J-7 (MiG-21). As the base design for the airframe, the Chinese specialists initially chose a hybrid of the J-7 gliders and the Soviet experimental E-8 fighter from the Mikoyan Design Bureau, which is the most progressive modification of the MiG-21 with ventral air intakes of the EF-2000 Typhoon type. At that time, Beijing and Moscow were still experiencing a crisis period of relations after the military conflict that erupted on Damansky Island in March 1969, due to which the Super-7 program received substantial technological support from the American Grumman Aerospace Corporation. As a result, this was expressed by the similarity of the wing design with the US F-16A / C fighter. Since 1991, the FC-1 project was supervised by the OKB named after. A. I. Mikoyan. Prior to the start of licensed production of FC-1 by the Pakistani PAC in 2008, the machine was not considered as a promising light aviation complex for the PRC Air Force, since this niche was firmly occupied by the J-10A fighter. After the deployment of the assembly in the Pakistani city of Kamra, FC-1 "Xiaolong" under the second JF-17 index became one of the most ambitious aircraft combat platforms for further upgrade to the level of generations "4 + / ++". Also, this fighter automatically turned into the main enemy of the Indian LCA "Tejas Mk.1 / 2" in the light class. This came as an extremely unpleasant surprise for India.
Today, the Pakistani Air Force is armed with 49 JF-17 Block I and 32 JF-17 Block II. They pose no threat to the numerically superior Tejas, Rafale and Su-30MKI. But on the way there are already completely new versions of fighters, possessing all the features of "tacticians" of the transitional and 5th generations. They are the ones causing real panic in the Indian Armed Forces. We are talking about the JF-17 Block III and its more advanced concept with the prevailing 5th generation technology (the index is still unknown). Regarding the serial production of these machines, Islamabad is building truly Napoleonic plans: more than 250 new fighters should be assembled and delivered to the Air Force, which is quite consistent with the composition of the French Air Force. And all this in a country that has an unresolved territorial dispute with India over the ownership of the state of Kashmir. How high is the combat potential of the last two modifications of the JF-17 "Thunder"?
The JF-17 Block I multipurpose tactical fighters, which entered service with the Pakistani Air Force in 2007, do not have outstanding flight performance, advanced high-performance avionics and a range of promising air-to-air missiles. The aircraft is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration with a trapezoidal wing with an area of 35, 3 m2, installed according to the "midwing" scheme. "Block I" does not have such developed aerodynamic sags at the root of the wing (as in the JF-17 "Block II"), which is why it is significantly inferior in maneuverability to the Indian "Mirage-2000I / TI", "Raphael", MiG-29UPG and Su-30MKI. The angular rate of turn and the limiting angle of attack of the first modification of the Chinese "Thunder" is much lower than that of the above-mentioned fighters of the Indian Air Force. A long steady-state turn at speeds up to 700 km / h (especially on verticals) for the JF-17 Block I is also an unaffordable luxury, since the thrust-to-weight ratio of a fighter with an RD-93 bypass turbojet engine does not exceed 0.91 kgf / kg. The aircraft does not shine with accelerating qualities: the afterburner thrust midships is only 1940 kgf / kg (33% less than that of the J-10A). Unregulated air intakes with a V-shaped camber do not make it possible to accelerate faster than 1750 km / h without weapons on the suspension points; in the presence of weapons, the speed barely reaches 1400-1550 km / h. Slightly smoothes the picture of maneuverability is the developed deflectable nose of the wing and the low load on the wing, amounting to 257.8 kg / m2 with a normal take-off weight of 9100 kg.
The JF-17 Block I avionics feature a significant contrast in the level of sophistication of the various systems. So, for example, a 1-channel analog EDSU is installed on a fighter, while the Indian MiG-29K / KUB and Tejas are equipped with 3- and 4-channel analog and analog-digital EDSUs, respectively. At the same time, the aircraft's armament control system (including radar, cockpit display equipment) is built around a relatively modern MIL-STD-1553B multiplex data exchange channel (bus). JF-17 Block I are equipped with a multi-mode airborne radar with a slotted antenna array KLJ-7 (Type 1478). The station operates both for ground and air targets, and has the most important operating modes for the theater of operations in the 21st century: scanning the terrain in the synthetic aperture mode (SAR), tracking and capturing moving ground targets (GMTI / GMTT), tracking single surface targets (SSTT), en-route escort (TWS) and aerial target acquisition. The latter mode is analogous to our SNP, but with great ability to work in a jamming environment: our radars with SHAR and Cassegrain N019 and N001 (MiG-29S and Su-27) in the escort mode on the pass, when the enemy sets up electronic jamming, practically "go blind "Until the enemy approaches 20-50 km. The KLJ-7 radar, although it has a more or less modern list of modes, cannot withstand modern onboard radars with passive HEADLIGHTS of the H011M "Bars" type, which is part of the armament of the Indian Su-30MKI, and therefore the "4+" generation JF-17 Block I if it does, then with a very big stretch.
At a higher technological level is an improved version of the JF-17 Block II fighter. The airframe of this aircraft has the best bearing qualities: the area of sagging at the wing root is more than 2-2.5 times larger than that of the Block I. Due to this, the fighter is able to maintain flight with high angles of attack, as well as to realize significantly higher angular turning speeds, comparable to the F / A-18C "Hornet" and F-16C, but for a short period of time, since the power plant of the fighter remains the same, based either on the Russian RD-93 turbojet engine, or on the Chinese WS-13, which have almost the same afterburner traction. The JF-17 Block II multipurpose fighter received an air refueling rod, which increased the combat range from 1350 to 2300 km with one refueling. It is reported that the "2nd block" received an upgraded KLJ-7V2 radar with an air-cooled radiating element. There are no data on the details of the modernization, but it is known that the new version is capable of detecting targets with an RCS of 3m2 at a range of about 115 km, while the KLJ-7V1 detects similar targets at a distance of 80 km. Apparently, the new station has eliminated the problem with the critically small detection range of the computer center against the background of the earth's surface.
The next option of the updated JF-17 Block II was the KJ300G onboard electronic countermeasures system. It is known that it is produced in a container version and is present in the avionics of fighters of the J-10, J-11 and J-15 families. The product is a simplified version of our Khibiny electronic warfare system. The cylindrical suspended container has 2 radio-transparent fairings under which there are emitting antenna modules with a total power of 1850 W, which is 2 times less than that of the Khibiny (3600 W). The frequency range of active interference generated by the KJ300G is 6.5-17.5 GHz, which makes it possible to combat almost all modern shooting radars of the H / X / Ku / J-bands of centimeter waves, as well as with active radar homing heads of the URVV operating at these frequencies types AIM-120C, P-77, "MICA-EM" and "Astra".
The Chinese electronic warfare station KJ300G also has a serious drawback. In particular, the lower frequencies of the centimeter waves (G-band) do not overlap. They are powered by the AN / MPQ-53 multifunctional radar attached to the Patriot PAC-1/2 anti-aircraft missile systems. For the Pakistani Air Force, this is not a reason for serious concern, since the Indian army does not have modern air defense systems, the radars of which operate in the G-band. Meanwhile, for the specialists of the defense industry of the PRC this is a serious ground for thought, because the American air bases and naval facilities in Japan, the Philippines and Guam are covered by the Patriot air defense systems. Individual protection containers of the L-265 "Khibiny" complex, for example, cover the G-band: the REB is generated in the 4-18 GHz range. Moreover, as part of the Chinese complex KJ300G, there is no group protection container operating in the L / E / S-bands of decimeter waves (1-4 GHz), which reduces the degree of protection against detection by enemy ground and airborne surveillance radars-AWACS. In fact, the KJ300G is a low-power electronic warfare station that does not cover all the frequency ranges necessary for modern air confrontation, which is a certain drawback of the Pakistani Thunder aircraft fleet. The updated JF-17 Block II received a new digital EDSU, as well as an expanded range of promising missile weapons. It included:
Flight tests of the first prototype of the JF-17 Block II multipurpose fighter ("Product 2P01") began on February 9, 2015 from the airfield of the Pakistani defense production complex PAC in Kamra,and in the same month 2 more copies of this machine were practically ready - "2P02" and "2P03". The new vehicle did a good job of "pulling up" against the background of "Block 1" both in terms of flight performance and electronic warfare capabilities. Thanks to the expansion of the list of weapons, the combat capabilities of the aircraft have also increased. But to establish at least partial parity with the Indian Air Force, this list of options for the updated "Thunder" is not enough.
And so, against the backdrop of the formation of the Indian projects AMCA and LCA "Tejas Mk.2", the Sino-Pakistani division of PAC embarked on another program under the "Super-7" project, the goal of which was to bring the JF-17 Block II to the level of Block III. Serial production of this machine was launched in 2016. While the glider and power plant have not undergone major changes, the onboard electronic "stuffing" of the new fighter is at the stage of constant updating. The first thing that attracts attention is the airborne radar with AFAR KLJ-7A. The technological level of this station is completely close to such products as Zhuk-AE, RBE-2AA or AN / APG-79, surpassing radars with PFAR of the Bars type. At the same time, the energy potential of the new station remains at the level of Н011М "Bars" (the target detection range with an RCS of 3 m2 reaches 150-160 km). The carrying capacity is within the same framework: the setting of routes for 15 air targets and the simultaneous "capture" of 4 targets. In long-range aerial combat, when using PL-21D missiles, the JF-17 Block III will not be inferior to the previous version of the Indian Su-30MKI. Let's say more: with the same range parameters of the H011M and JLK-7A radars, the radar signature of the Indian light fighter will be no more than 2-3 m2 (Sushka has at least 12 m2), which will give Pakistanis much more operational and tactical capabilities. It is for this reason that today we are witnessing the activation of the Indian Ministry of Defense on the issue of large-scale modernization of the Su-30MKI aircraft fleet. The JLK-7A radar will deliver the JF-17 Block III several steps higher than the Indian Tejas Mk.2, for which the AFAR-radar will be launched much later than the Chinese model.
At the disposal of the Block-3 pilot will be an advanced wide-angle helmet-mounted target designation system with a symbolic-graphic transparent indicator, which will display the range to the captured target, determined by the laser rangefinder and radar, the speed, overload and attitude indicator of his own vehicle, as well as a column with a choice of type URVV. It is also planned to equip the JF-17 Block III with an optical-electronic sighting system of the IRST type, operating in the infrared sighting channel, with the help of which the Pakistani-Chinese fighter will have the same opportunities for covert observation of warm-contrast air objects as in the Su-35S, MiG fighters -35, as well as Rafale.
