[2] is a 4th generation twin-engine jet fighter of the People's Republic of China derived from the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27.

Based on experience from the Vietnam War, the PLAAF issued a requirement in 1969 for a STOL light fighter to replace the Shenyang J-6 and Nanchang Q-5.

[4] China turned to the Soviet Union for weapons following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the resulting Western arms embargo.

[7][9] However, through 2009 China continued to hold licenses to produce Russian aircraft and components, which included previously confidential provisions concerning intellectual property.

Unconfirmed upgrades included improved cockpit displays, and fire control systems for R-77 or PL-10 missiles.

[15] Testing may have started as early as 2002; an image from the 2002 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition allegedly depicted a J-11 with one engine replaced with a WS-10.

[20] On 19 August 2014 a J-11B intercepted a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft that was over the South China Sea.

[21] The U.S. Department of Defense released details at a press conference on 22 August 2014 with Admiral John Kirby as spokesperson.

The Chinese jet also passed the nose of the P-8 at 90 degrees with its belly toward the P-8 Poseidon, believed to be displaying its weapons load-out.

He said the "unprofessional" and "unsafe" actions of the Chinese pilot was "not keeping with the kind of military-to-military relationship" the U.S. sought to establish with China.

[22][23] The Pentagon commented further that: "Military activities may be conducted within the Exclusive Economic Zone of another nation as an exercise of the freedoms of navigation and overflight.