History
The program started in 1986,[1] to counter new fourth generation fighters then being introduced by the USSR (namely, the MiG-29 and Su-27). Initially designed as a specialized counter-air fighter, it was later remade into a multirole aircraft capable of both anti-air combat and ground attack missions. It has been argued that the J-10 is based on the now cancelled Israeli Lavi;[2][3] however, in an interview, the general designer, Mr. Song Wencong (宋文骢), refuted the remark that J-10 is a copy of Lavi.[4] The J-10’s canard configuration is based on CAC’s previous experience with the J-9, which was cancelled in the early 1980s.
Having been designed under much secrecy, many details of the J-10 remain unknown and are subject to much speculation. The first flight of the J-10 took place sometime in 1996, but the program suffered a major delay due to a fatal accident which occurred in 1997. However, the rumored crash has been openly denied by the government of China after the official govenmental acknowledgement of the existence of J-10: on 2007-01-15, both the Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Liberation Army Newspaper have claimed/reported the accomplishments of one of the test pilots of the J-10, Mr. Li Zhonghua (李中华), and, in these reports, one of the accomplishments quoted was that there was not a single crash since the project began. (Note, there is evidence, albeit inconclusive, that only one prototype was flying; the other was a ground static testbed. Hence, no crash occurred.) A redesigned prototype flew in 1998, resuming flight testing of the aircraft.[citation needed] According to Chinese media reports, however, the first plane, “J-1001”, rolled out in November 1997, and the first flight of “J-1001” was on 1998-03-23.[1] No incident has been reported.[5] After 18 years in development, the J-10 finally entered service in 2004[1][3].
The J-10 has been offered only to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for export; in April 2006, the Pakistani government announced that it would procure at least 36 J-10s under the designation FC-20. (However, according to the Pakistan Air Force Wikipedia article, it will receive the designation F-10A/B Vanguard.)
It was reported by Jane’s Defence Weekly on 2006-01-09 that a more advanced version of the J-10 is planned, “referred to as the Super-10, with a more powerful engine, thrust-vector control, stronger airframe and passive phased-array radar.[6]”
Although the existence of J-10 has long been reported both inside and outside of China, the Chinese government did not officially admit so until January 2007, when the first photographs of the J-10 were allowed to be published to the public by the Xinhua News Agency
Design
The J-10 is a single-seat, delta winged aircraft powered by a single, Russian-built AL-31FN turbofan (maximum static power output of 12,500 kgf (123 kN, 27,600 lbf)) or Chinese-built Woshan WS-10A “Taihang” turbofan (13,200 kgf (129 kN, 29,101 lbf)). However, after the government’s official acknowledgement of the existence of the J-10, an interview with J-10 pilots (such as test pilot Mr. Li Cunbao (李存宝)) revealed that a domestic engine is highly unlikely to be equipped in J-10s in the near future[citation needed]. In this interview publicized in January 2007, the pilots claimed that though the domestic Chinese engine could match the performance of the Russian one in every parameter, there was a very serious drawback: the domestic Chinese engine, the WS-10, took much longer to reach the same level of performance as its Russian counterpart. (According to Mr. Li Cunbao’s experience, as well as other pilots who flew the J-10 with the WS-10A, it took at least 50% longer, and in many other aspects, almost 100% longer.) Although this difference only meant a minute-time differential at most, it was more-than-enough to make a difference between allowing the pilots to safely recover the aircraft by restarting the engine than abandonning the aircraft in a forced ejection. Another problem of the domestic Chinese engine is its lack of FADEC, which is needed for having a same or better aircraft performance when compared with an aircraft with a Russian engine. However, the current WS-10 version available with FADEC is not reliable enough to be accepted into service, and currently all of the matured WS-10s lack FADEC.
The airframe possesses a large vertical tail, as well as canards placed near the cockpit. The air intake is rectangular in shape, and is located beneath the fuselage. Construction likely incorporates much use of composite materials, as well as more conventional metals. Performance is generally speculated to be within the class of a late-model F-16, although maneuverability is thought to be superior (possibly within the range of some early fifth-generation Western fighters). A bubble canopy provides 360 degrees of visual coverage for the pilot. The aircraft is designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, a subordinate research institute of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation, but in a rather unusual arrangement, the single seat version of the J-10 and the twin seater version of J-10 were designed by two different general designers: the general designer for the single seater version of J-10 was Mr. Song Wencong, while the twin seater version of J-10 was designed by a younger person, the general designer of the JF-17 Thunder Mr. Yang Wei (杨伟). Mr. Yang is the chief designer of the fully digitized fly-by-wire control systems for both versions of J-10. This is disputed by analyst Richard Fisher[1] who credits Israeli consultants for developing the system[2]. For both single seater and twin seater versions, the chief engineer was Mr. Xue Chishou (薛炽寿), who was also the deputy general manager of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation, and the chief test engineer was Mr. Zhou Ziquan (周自全), who was also the deputy director of Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute.
It was rumoured that in November 2005 the first batch of Russian AL-31FN thrust vectoring engines had already been received for use in J-10s. A second batch was supposed to arrive later that year, and the rest would arrive by mid-2006. On 2006-01-09, it was claimed that these new engines were actually termed AL-31FN M1, and would be used in a new advanced version of the J-10 called the “Super-10”. Regardless of how they are eventually used, thrust vectoring will undoubtedly boost the J-10’s maneuverability.
CAC is negoiating and rumoured to have sold 36 J-10 fighters to Pakistan, slated to enter service in the Pakistan Air Force in 2009-2010. It is estimated to cost $1.5 billion USD total with a flyaway price of $41 million USD for each J-10 fighter with maintenance and parts inclusive.
Avionics
A digital, quadruplex fly-by-wire system aids the pilot in flying the aircraft. Information is provided visually to the pilot, in the form of three liquid crystal Multi-Functional Displays (LCD MFDs) within the cockpit. Western-style HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) controls are incorporated in the J-10’s design.
The radar type equipping the J-10 is not yet known; possible candidates include the Russian RP-35, the Israeli EL/M-2035, the Italian Grifo 2000 and the Chinese/Pakistani JL-10A. (Note: most likely, the production version is fitted with a 147x series fire control radar from NRIET.) In January 2007, scientists/engineers at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation revealed to public that the current radar of J-10 is slotted planar array with capabilities to simultaneously track 10 targets and engaging 4 of the 10 tracked. However, the scientists/engineers stopped short of revealing the exact designation of the radar, only claimed that development was in progress to arm the aircraft with a passively scanned phased array airborne radar. It is rumored the passive phased array radar is either Russian or jointly developed with Russian. A comprehensive ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) package is likely to be present, including active jammers.
Note: As of 2005, the JL-10A fire control radar (FCR) has been incorporated into the JH-7A (JH-7, the evaluation batch, uses Type 232H FCR). Some evidence suggests that a derivative of the Type 1421 on later J-8 models has been selected. This could be the KLJ-3 FCR.
Sign In
