Huzhigeng recently made another appearance on CJDBY, and brought some more insider information. For those of you that don't know who he is, he works for the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, the design bureau for J-17, JF-17, J-10 and J-20. It looks like development in the next year will be pretty smooth ride. Without further delay, here is what he said.
When asked about test flights of J-10B, he said:
"It (J-10B) will enter service at the end of the year, thus military officials came to visit. The first batch will have more than 10 planes, and sent to a first tier unit. That unit had already send quite a few pilots to CAC, and few will fly home with their new toys before the end of the year."
Furthermore, he talked about export:
"Also, export order for J-10 had been signed for Pakistan. There will be XX planes, slightly more than a regiment (about 2 squadrons) size unit. Some changes to avionics at the request of Pakistanis."
Regarding Pakistani version:
"The export orders are for older J-10A version, not B. However there are upgrades done."
About SAC and J-11 export:
"SAC's client are Chinese air force and naval aviation, so export is not possible. Do not expect them to export in the future either, including their 4th (5th) gen."
Whether J-10A will stop production after J-10B starts:
"No, the orders from naval aviation still have to be filled, as well as Pakistan's."
Whether WS-15 engine can keep up with the progress of J-20 on time:
"There is no problem as everything is going smooth at this point. The 3rd prototype next year will be equipped with new avionics. Our own EODAS (Electro Optical Distributed Apature System) will also be installed, and is similar to one found on F-35."
Whether J-10B will be equipped with WS-10 insteald of AL-31F in the future:
"It's difficult. All J-10B orders at this point are planing on using AL-31F. SAC took all the WS-10 for themselves."
What kind of engine will Pakistan's J-10 use:
"Russian, do you really need to ask?"
http://lt.cjdby.net/thread-1194524-1-1.html