FTC-2000 is just like a temporary salve. The L-15 would be a more serious trainer and its FBW is said to be able to emulate different aircraft. But I’m not that keen on FBW for trainers; in my opinion, the trainee should learn the “feel” of the aircraft, and not fly it like a video game with a joystick.

Despite that, I don’t think FTC-2000 will be much better than J-7G, why? It shares the same engine I believe or at least similar. It’s draggier as it seems and slower. It’s number of hardpoints is very low and I doubt it’s payload is anymore than 1500-2000kgs which is pretty low as compared to Yak-130 which can lift as much as 3000kgs and not to mention has more hardpoints on it(I think 8-9 for production types).

That’s why it was meant more as a trainer. Even with 2,000kgs payload, it matches that of the Q-5, but China isn’t giving up on the Q-5 as the CAS role isn’t very demanding.

The FTC-2000 would levy on existing support infrastructure for the J-7, and it would be cheap to build. Yet at the same time it should have the nice flight qualities of the J-7Ewith more sophisticated avionics.

Which is why the F-16’s single engine is more efficient than 2 RD-33s or 2 F404s. Yes indeed I am wonderng about how the single engined RD-93 FC-1 will fair in its range and fuel economy.

Pretty sure it would be much better the MiG-21 style turbojets.

The RD-33 has been refined throughout the years, like the AL-31F, so later productions lots should be more reliable and economical than the first. We don’t know what other improvements Klimov made into the engine, other than move the gearbox to the bottom. No doubt the FC-1 will also use a FADEC (the Chinese has been displaying their own in air shows) so that helps. Still 2300kg ain’t that much (just slightly more fuel than the Gripen or the F-CK-1).

Doesn’t the FTC-2000 already have a radar installed and is planned?

Also Crobato, do you have any really good info on the FTC-2000 like it’s costs and exact specifications because there is NOT much info.

Sorry don’t have much info yet. We can expect more once the product is better groomed for the market.

If it has a radar, it will probably a KLJ type similar to the ones used in the PLAAF now on the J-8II, J-10 and J-G (and most probably for the FC-1 as well) since the radar commonality would be most directly useful for training.

About MiG-19, here F-6 claims (1972), here a link first.
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_246.shtml
2 F-4 May 8 not confirmed, just claims
2 F-4 May 10 confirmed in both sources.
1 F-4 May 18 not confirmed, given so it maybe possible
2 F-4 May 23 not confirmed, just claims (927 FR. was equip. with MiG-21)
It translates into
2 kills
1 possible
2 claims
2 wrong claims
The F-6s flew in 925 FR.
Of special interest, May 10 first MiG-21MF were seen.
When were the F-6 delivered to Vietnam and when got some MiG-21MF “lost” during transfer in China.
In 1972 some MiG-21bis were operated with Russian pilots in Vietnam.
1974/75 MiG-21 production ended in the SU.
OKB MiG was occupied with the new MiG-29 to come and OKB Sukhoi with Su-27.
At that time the J-7II was years away from its first flight 30.12.78 and China had no choise, just keep the F-6 line running. (~250/year possible)
Some further details later.

Sens, the majority of J-6s were J-6A and above. J-6A wasn’t even authorized into production until 1980.

You also don’t seem to know where the MiG-21MF came from. You thought it came from Vietnam?

Also, different historians have different versions of the losses, so you’re presenting one version against another version (actually came from a composite of three versions).

The MiG-21MF came from Egypt who by the way, TRADED them for the J-6s.

Egypt traded away MiG-23s too to China.

Where is your proof that -bis operated in Vietnam? I like to see info on that.

In Pakistan service, J-6s had a total of 12 claimed kills, including Su-7s and a MiG-21, at the expense of 3 planes.

Golden Dragon 😎 Jane`s article is clear as water, and they say according to China…..Corporation …….FD-60(PL-11)….25 km i feel you do not like simply the fact the missile is not a BVR weapon and you are simply trying to denied the undeniable but if you really want me to convince find another Chinese report from CCTV or Xinhua and i will believe you but for the moment Jane`s airticle has enough credibility.

25km is range for another Chinese missile—the FM-90 SAM.

If you want to know the head on or ballistic range of the PL-11, try this.

http://www.sinodefence.com/airforce/weapon/pl11.asp

GD, apologies for the rant-in-agreement. Was a bit tired i guess.

I’d say the one with the variable intake and the more advanced engine, in this case the MiG-21. Don’t forget that the original Su-25 engine simply was a

The inlet was only a three position variable one. That’s not very complex. Neither is the R11 that much more advanced. But yeah, the RD-9 was reliable though it had a short life. MiG-21 engines were never known for reliability.

non-afterburning RD-9 from the MiG-19 because that engine was incredibly simple, reliable and sturdy unlike later, more advanced engines. It also explains why China was able to churn out thousands of J-6es from the 1960s on, whereas it took almost twenty years after the transfer of MiG-21 technology to the PRC before the first seriously airworthy J-7s flew.

The PRC already had J-7s by the seventies. The CR affected J-6 production as well, but even in the eighties, China was already producing J-7s, but they were still producing even more J-6s.

Oddly enough, the most important variants of the J-6—the most plentiful with the PLAAF—came after 1976, with full production in 1980.

The SR-4 as big as the Sapfir-21? If you don’t mind, i’d like a source for that.

The J-8I was upgraded to the J-8E—using an improved radar of the one used in the J-7D, which had the MiG-21MF body.

I think you forget the most important reasons why the J-6 was built in those huge numbers:
First, it was the only thing available until at least the end of the 1970s.
Second, the build quality throughout the Chinese production run ment that at least hundreds of them (like the J-6III failure) were hardly airworthy, or impossible to keep airworthy with spares built in a different ‘era’ of J-6 production.

You seem to forget that J-6 production would have been equally adversely affected by the effects of the Cultural Revolution.

The J-7III was built in the mid eighties, already a renaissance of sorts was happening to the Chinese industry. But—but, the plane was considered inferior in handling and dogfighting qualities.

The J-8I was built in small numbers because it finally became clear that if you want to have a fighter with a reasonable range, you need to give the aircraft some decent detection capability of it’s own. Until the J-8II and J-7III/IV, the PLAAF just did not have any fighters with an even remotely autonomous target finding capability. All there was were short-ranged ground-controlled fighters like the J-6 and a handful of J-7s. While these certainly are a lot more fun to fly for pilots than true interceptors, in all reality such jets were totally useless for the defense of a country like the PRC.

J-6s didn’t have problems intercepting CIA sponsored missions from Taiwan, nor high flying reconnaissance drones, or even an RF-104. “Autonomous” target finding was not in the PLAAF’s radar scope until the eighties, since they were adhering to the Soviet philosophy of strict GCI.

Still they were looking at improving radar performance since the sixties. They did not find it with the MiG-21MF body or the Saphir-21 they were able to acquire. The J-7III did not give them the radar they needed and at the same time, its flight performance was disappointing. The J-7D corrected that with a radar the Israelis improved on and it could use the PL-8, and the WP-13FII engines had better thrust. But even with the J-7D “fixed” the problem, the stigma was already cast, and they were already going for the J-7E for its better flight performance. (The J-7IIIs were most probably upgraded to the J-7D anyway and kept in service.)

You don’t seriously think the the bulk of the PLAAF consisted of MiG-19s until the mid-1990s just because it’s such a joy to fly and has such powerful guns?

No, but the MiG-19 design was/IS popular with the PLAAF. Even with various improvements, the J-7 was a mild failure in all its versions until the J-7E arrived—in 1990. The J-7A/B didn’t perform any better nor was it any more reliable.

:confused:

And, deemed a carrier base electronic jamming system…

But, if true, what are they doing with a carrier base system when they already have the A-50I???

:confused:

It’s a freakin FAKE. The damned radome casts no shadow. That alone was too obvious.