The Shenyang J-16, also known as Qianlong (NATO reporting name: Flanker-N) is a Chinese all-weather 4.5 generation, tandem-seat, twin-engine, multirole strike fighter built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). It is developed from the Shenyang J-11, the licensed production variant of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27.

The J-16 fully replaced the single seat J-11B in production in 2018, with the two classes having been produced in parallel at Shenyang for over half a decade. A small number of twin seat J-11BS trainers remained in production alongside the J-16s into the following years.

In August 2024, Military Watch Magazine estimated that the J-16 fleet had exceeded 350 fighters at a conservative estimate, citing new images from the 125th Air Brigade confirming that aircraft is from the 13th production batch had begun deliveries to front line units. Each batch of J-16s comprises between 24 and 30 fighters. The publication highlighted that these numbers made the J-16 "by far the most widely commissioned heavyweight fighter class by a single air force anywhere in the world since the turn of the century."

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a Chinese PLAAF Shenyang J-16 "Flanker-N" multirole fighter that was attached to the 7th Air Brigade as part of the Eastern Theatre Command based at Jiaxing, China. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8-inches
Length: 12-inches

Release Date: March 2026

Historical Account: "Dangerously and Provocatively" - According to the Australian Department of Defence, on May 26th, 2022, a J-16 intercepted a RAAF P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea while the latter was "conducting routine maritime surveillance operations" over international waters. The newly elected Australian defense minister Richard Marles said that the J-16 first flew closely alongside the P-8, released flares and then flew in front of the P-8 where it released chaff into the flight path, of which some were ingested by the P-8's engine. The Australian Government lodged a protest with the Chinese Government over the incident and Marles said that Australia would not be deterred from conducting operations of the same or a similar nature in the future. According to a Chinese defense ministry spokesman, the Australian pilots acted "dangerously and provocatively," and ignored repeated warnings before the J-16 drove the Australian aircraft away. An article by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, said the interception marked an escalation in the grey zone actions that China was using to enforce its claims in the South China Sea.

Out of all aircraft deployed in the Taiwan strait, J-16 fighters are the most frequently used, possibly due to its electronic warfare capabilities. In August 2022, China dispatched large amount of J-16 fighters to the Taiwan strait, in response to the Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit.