China military: Chinese air force and naval air force has begun to equip small batch of the new F-8FR reconnaissance aircrafts.
F-8FR reconnaissance aircraft is researched on the base of the F-8F fighter. the difference from earlier F-8R, J-8FR on the 23 mm cannon were removed, replaced by the photographic equipment.
Chinese F-8FR high-speed reconnaissance aircraft
In addition to reconnaissance tasks, J-8FR still have a strong combat capability. The aircraft can carry PL-8 and PL-12 missile. In addition, J-8FR way can be extended by air refueling flight distance.
J-8FR on the fairing to protect the camera with a variety of optical observation window size, which indicates that it uses a modular design to accommodate the different bands of photographic equipment. The machine may be used in optical cameras equipped with J-8R on the KA-112A-8R-based development, the performance should be greatly improved. In addition, J-8FR also carry synthetic aperture radar or infrared cameras for night or in complex weather conditions on a reconnaissance mission. Photo released from the current point of view, J-8FR top of the front of the keel also installed an additional communication antenna.
J-8FR originally equipped engine WP-14A, and later as reliability issues, has been switched to WP-13B2.
J-8FR reconnaissance small quantities starting in 2006 the Chinese Air Force and Navy aviation equipment (numbering for the 501x, 511x, 31x7x and 83x5x), used to replace the old F-8R. It is said that the Chinese military reconnaissance aircraft is currently being installed for these ELINT (electronic intelligence) and SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) reconnaissance pod (possibly KZ900 series).
