Chengdu J-10
The J-10 is a fourth-generation multi-role fighter, produced by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Co. (CAC). The secretive program started in the late '80s, and is reportedly based on the Israeli Lavi fighter, Israels attempt to develop its own F-16. Pakistan also provided F-16 technology, which was given to the PLAAF as part of a secret military trade deal between Pakistan and China.
A two-seat J-10B fighter-trainer version first flew in December 2003, and in early 2006 Jane's reported that a more advanced version of the J-10 is planned. Russian sources told Jane's the new J-10 version is called the Super-10, and has a more powerful engine, thrust-vector control, stronger airframe and passive phased-array radar.
Dispite the fact that the program got off with a slow start, and is based on old, foreign technology, many experts now believe the J-10 has the potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters in the next few decades.
Development
The program began in 1986 with the goal of developing a fighter that could counter the Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters. The break-up of the Soviet Union and changing requirements shifted development towards a multirole fighter to replace the Shenyang J-6 (MiG-19) and Chengdu J-7 (MiG-21), which were the backbone of China's Army Air Force.
The Lavi based airframe had to be significantly modified, because the Chinese could not use the P&W 1120 engine, due to the US arms export ban to China. The larger and much heavier Russian AL-31 engine was then installed, but it requires 40 per cent more air flow.
In the early '90s a wind tunnel mock-up was build, which reveiled several aerodynamical problems at low speed flight, and a lower than expected angle of attack at subsonic speeds. These problems, the requirement for better air-to-ground capabilties, forced the J-10 team to make more design changes.
First flight of a J-10 prototype reportedly took place somewhere in 1996, but a fatal accident in 1997 further delayed the program. A faulty fly-by-wire system is believed to be the cause of the incident. It took two years before the J-10 had a successful test flight.
After the modified prototype made its succesful test flight, more prototypes were build, by 1999 four were used for flight testing and two for static ground tests. A year later, the flight test program accumulated over 140 flight hours and nine prototypes were in use.
Production of the J-10 began in mid-2002, with the first batch of 50 J-10 fighters. Between 2002 and 2004, 54 AL-31F engines were delivered.
A second batch of engines was ordered in late 2005, at a total cost of $300 million. The newer AL-31FN M1 engines for this batch are believed to be developed especially for the new "Super-10" version of the J-10.
China has also been working on their own version of the AL-31 engine, called the WS10A.
Systems
Prototypes of the J-10 that have been seen were armed with the PL-9 air-to-air missile, a Chinese copy of the Israeli Rafael Python 3.
It is unclear what kind of radar the J-10 is equipped with, possibilities are the Israeli-made Elbit ELM-2021 radar system, which can track multiple aerial targets simultaneously, an indigenous KLJ-3 pulse-Doppler fire-control radar, or a Russian Phazotron Zhemchoung radar, which has both an air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting capability.
On April 12, 2006 the Pakistani cabinet approved the purchase of at least 36 J-10s under the designation "FC-10".
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Sources and relevant links
Information and images from SinoDefence.com
GlobalSecurity.com
Janes.com
