J-10 fighter enters international market at $40 million
Recently, the U.S. think tank, International Assessment and Strategy Center, published an article about the Chinese J-10 fighter. The article claimed that the J-10 fighter is about to enter the international market after 2010, while its price tag of 40 million U.S. dollars is half of its U.S. counterpart, the F-16 fighter.
According to the article, the J-10 fighter is going to sell on the international weapons market around 2010 after extensive R&D and equipping of the Chinese Air Force is complete. It is understood that the Chinese Air Force started developing J-10 back in the 1960s, and it has been fully equipped for the last five years.
The progress that China has made in developing the engine makes the fighter very competitive on international markets; while with its good quality electronics and weapon systems, the price is just half of an American F-16. Pakistan is sure to be the first buyer, and many countries including Iran and the Philippines are also planning to introduce the fighter.
According to Pakistani sources, Pakistan has already reached an agreement with China to buy 36 J-10 fighters at a total value of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars (40 million U.S. dollars for each fighter). While the single price for an F-16, which U.S. sold to the UAE affiliated with AN/APG-80 radar, was 80 million U.S dollars. At the moment it is unclear whether spare parts, maintenance support, training and other services are included into the J-10's price. It is estimated that Pakistan might buy 70 to 150 J-10 fighters in all.
Besides price, what makes the J-10 attractive is its competitive electronics and weapon systems. The latest version, sometimes called the J-10B (or FC-20 when slated for Pakistan) emerged in Internet photos in January 2009. It features a driverless supersonic inlet similar in principle to that of the Joint Strike Fighter. The nose is redesigned, with an infrared search-and-track system in front of the windscreen and what appears to be a canted radar bulkhead consisting of a fixed, electronically scanned array radar. If true, this would be a major advance for China's radar technology, and may make the J-10 competitive with upgraded Western and Russian fourth-generation-plus fighters. The cockpit is dominated by three multifunction displays and a heads-up display.
The J-10 has 11 hardpoints, including five on the fuselage. Its principal counter-air weapon is the Luoyang PL 12 active radar-guided air-to-air missile (AAM) with 70-km. range. With a twin-AAM pylon on the inner wing mount, plus two on forward fuselage mounts, the J-10 can carry eight PL-12s. Short-range AAMs include the PL-8, a copy of the Israeli Python-3, and an improved version of this missile, the PL-9, both helmet-sighted. The J-10 may soon feature a more capable helmet-mounted display and a new fifth-generation AAM from Luoyang.
The fighter's market success will depend on China's ability to produce reliable advanced turbofan engines. Rival fighter maker Shenyang has been developing its WS-10A Taihang turbofan since the mid-1980s, which could offer 13.2 tons of thrust. Russian sources believe it is beset by developmental difficulties.
Chengdu may have a competing Huashan advanced turbofan engine program, which some Chinese sources note is based on its late-1990s acquisition of the engineering data and sales rights to the Tumansky R-79 turbofan developed for the defunct Yakovlev Yak-141 supersonic vertical/short-takeoff-and-landing fighter. Nevertheless, Russian sources say China remains interested in more powerful versions of the Salyut AL-31FN, which could come in 13.5- and, eventually, 15-ton-thrust versions.
Chengdu remains ready to develop a carrier-based version of the J-10. During the PLAAF anniversary, a test pilot was reported noting that ground-test simulations prove the J-10 can operate from a carrier.
J-10 fighter enters international market at $40 million - People's Daily Online
Chinese J-10 Fighter Aircraft
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J-10 fighter aircraft is a fourth generation fighter aircraft made for Chinese air force to face the challenge of the challenge of F-22, SU-27 , Mig-29.
It is a multirole ,Suit for any weather(day/night) condition fighter aircraft which can be used for both air-to-air & air-to-ground missions .
The project to build this aircraft started at mid 1980 .It is designed by Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and built by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of AVIC.
At first it was planned as a air superiority fighter but the changing requirements & continuous development made it as a multirole jet fighter .
The J-10 fighter first made it flight at March, 1998 lasting for twenty minutes , from 1998 to 2003 the fighter make it capable in aerial refueling , from December 21 to December 25 it completed it’s test flight as a firing aircraft .
Probably it is used operationally by the 131st regiment of 44th division .
Many nations have shown their interest to by this multirole fighter jet like Iran,Thailand, Indonesia & Pakistan .
Though there is a rumour that China has taken technological support from Israel & Russia it is strongly rejected by the Chinese defense source .
This fighter is very user friendly for the pilot during dog fight like other fourth generation fighter aircrafts containing an zero zero ejection seat which can perform a safe ejection in an emergency even at zero altitude and zero speed..
The pilot enjoys a 360 degree visual coverage using two piece bubble canopy which is a vital feature during air-to-air combat.
The fighter use the fly-by- wire flight control system .This system provides automatic flight coordination and keeps the aircraft from entering potentially dangerous situations such as unintentional slops or skids. This therefore frees the pilot to concentrate on his intended tasks during the dogfight
The pilot receive information visually by using LCD multi-functional displays in the cockpit .
The J-10 fighter has a tailless delta canard aerodynamic layout .This configuration is aerodynamically unstable which provides a high level of agility specially at supersonic speed .
This fighter uses a Chinese infra-red search & track technology which has a maximum range of 75km .
The J-10 fighter aircraft uses a multi-mode fire control radar system which can track 10 targets at the same time of which 2 can be engaged simultaneously with semi active radar homing missiles or 4 can be engaged with active radar homing missiles .
It is equipped with a 23mm twin barrel canon .It can carry about 6000kg weapons such as missile & bombs .
It can be externally equipped by air to air missiles PL-8,PL-9 ,medium range short guided air to air missiles PL-11,PL-12, laser guided bombs ,anti shipa &anti Radiation missiles like PJ-9 .
The variants of this aircraft are J-10A, J-10B ,J-10C,J-10S .
LATEST TECHNOLOGY NEWS: Chinese J-10 Fighter Aircraft