J-8B doesn’t perform well compared to J-7E despite following it in the tech tree. It is underperforming in almost every aspect.
J-8B has:
- Worse flight performance (J-7E has double delta wing to keep speed, J-8B bleed speed in turn like MiG-21)
- Worse RWR (J-7E recently got an RWR with fine zones like the one on A-5C, while the RWR on the J-8B is still 4-sided)
- Almost the same weapon (J-7E has 4x PL-5B, J-8B has 4x PL-5B / 2x PL-5B + 2x Aspide, but the bad radar makes the Aspide very hard to use so taking 4x PL-5B is often better)
I suggest that to make J-8B useful, it can be buffed with PL-5E/PL-8 and put into 11.3 to fill the gap between J-7E and J-8F.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I saw somewhere that J-8B block 2 has a pulse-doppler radar. If that is true, making the J-8B in the game as a block 2 model can also be an option.