The pictures came from a People’s Liberation Army Air Force recruitment video in a private Facebook group. The footage shows a new anti-radar missile under the wing of a fighter jet.
The J-11BS is a twin-engine fighter jet and is currently manufactured by China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
Andreas Rupprecht, aviation author and China military expert, said the “so far unknown” missile is likely to be an anti-radio missile.
The missile is used to target enemy radar systems as part of the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) mission.
SEAD are military actions to suppress enemy air defences, to pave the way for more vulnerable aircrafts including bombers to fly into enemy territory.
In a tweet, Mr Rupprecht said: “If true, then this is another major news.
“Not only that it shows for the first time a PLAAF J-11BS with low-visibility marking, but even more surprising is the new and so far unknown missile it carries under its wings.
“IMO this is most likely the long expected new ARM.”
He added: “An interesting additional note: That image is from the latest 2020 pilot recruiting video, showing briefly that J-11BS during take-off and it was first posted on a Facebook group.
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China is said to be surpassing Russia in airpower technology, according to a recent report.
The UK-based think tank, The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), concluded that China is on its way to overshadowing Russia in terms of combat aircrafts.
RUSI said that the two countries are on different trajectories in development of combat aircraft but Beijing is making a clear lead in areas including sensors, weapons, datalinks and low-observable technology.
But the group added that Russia retains a lead over China in its aircraft engines.
RUSI said: “China has started to build a clear technical lead over Russia in most aspects of combat aircraft development.
“Moreover, Russian industry is unlikely to be able to regain areas of competitive advantage once lost, due to deep structural industrial and budgetary disadvantages compared to the Chinese sector.”
The report added that Russia has struggled to gain combat electronically scanned array (AESA) radars which give pilots high detection ranges.
It also suggests that in the following ten years, Russia could import Chinese sensor and missile technology.
RUSI added: “For this to occur, the Russian government would have to overcome considerable levels of distrust between Russia and China in military terms, as well as deep-seated Russian pride and attachment to their sovereign aerospace industry.
“However, the increasing superiority of Chinese radars, [air-to-air missiles] and targeting pods may prove sufficient motivation, especially in the face of a new generation of Western combat aircraft development programmes.”