Rowdyhorse4

ah so i guess my original question wasn't fully ignorant at all... but rather than the CW Illuminator being added on, it came as part of the APG-66 package (BLK 15 APG-66 has CWI) regardless if the fighter is going to be carrying missiles that don't need CW illumination. (which i guess is the case with the J-8PP, CW illuminator just being part of the APG-66 package even if the PL-11 is PD Illumination capable.

thanks for information! I appreciate that you've put the time to explain it to me! Also i need to update i was mistaken on the BLK 15 not having a CW illuminator. If its the case as you say, then how is later SARH missiles guided by radar sets that didn't get CW illuminators like the APG-68?

iirc APG-66 didn't come with a CW Horn standard as its meant to guide PD illumination capable AIM-7F/Ms that don't need CW horn and such (since the 16 blk15 ADF mod came when AIM-7Ms were already in service and no CW horn iirc)? the CW horn is meant to give the APG-66 the ability to guide in CW guided Missiles (Taiwanese APG-66V3s got CW horn modded in for guiding older SARH missiles iirc). But the PLA PL-11/Aspide 1As are already PD guided, not CW. So wouldn't that make the CW horn on the J-8PP pointless? unless the APG-66V-PRC-F8 is a mod version of the TW APG-66V3 though i've read that its mostly similar to the APG-66V(1)...

Am curious about the CW illuminator. I thought the Aspide 1A/PL-11 were already using monopulse seakers, not CW seekers? if so, wouldn't the CW illuminator be useless? does anyone have any more information regarding the CW illuminators that you can share? I never recalled seeing in any article or documents about a CW illuminator being added and i would love to read up on it. another question, did Shenyang also get the AN/APG-66V-PRC-F8 when america returned the J-8PPs as well?