I think some are again playing Quartett instead of making a reasonable comparison: the Su-35 is most of all a heavily revised fighter variant of the Flanker family whereas the J-16 – since based on the Su-30MKK – was developed in order to field an indigenously manufactured striker variant.
IMO one should compare the J-16 with the Su-30SM or MKI and the Su-35 with the J-11D … and for both Russia might still have an edge….. but that gap is getting narrower.
Deino
Even against the Su-30MKI and Su-30SM the J-16 is going to be at disadvantage in WVR without TVC. TVC is not just for airshow stunts. The only edge the J-16 might have is the brand new PL-10 ASR missile but we haven’t seen J-16 pilots use a new HMD with the PL-10. PLAAF uses HMS with R-73 but we don’t know whether the PL-10 has a compatible HMD ready for the J-16. So Su-30MKI and Su-30SM pilots have TVC and the R-73 + HMS combo while the J-16 pilots will have rely of the PL-10 alone assuming pilot skills are the same.
BVR is a completely different story. Weapons alone the J-16 pilots have PL-12, PL-15 and new the VLRAAM to knockout any support aircraft AWACS and tankers, etc and if the EW systems on the J-16 is as good as the rumored J-10C systems then in BVR the J-16 would only be 2nd to the J-20 in the PLAAF. J-16 and J-16D would be a deadly combo.
Su-35 vs J-11D is a non-starter. Su-35 takes the cake by default. There are just a handfull of J-11D prototypes and its status is unclear. I mean does anyone know the current status of this program?
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