Chengdu, Dec 27 (China Defense Mashup Report by Johnathan Weng) — Several eyewitnesses in Chengdu city prove that a greatly improved J-10 fighter makes its first flight from CAC (Chengdu Aircraft Corporation) internal airport in Huang Tianba (黄田坝).
One Chinese Artist’s CG Imagine Image of Improved J-10 Fighter
Some spectators say that the eyeable improvements include a DSI inlet, Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) Pod and Tail Wing-tip Integrated Electrical Avionics. Besides, some Internet resources claim that new J-10 has equipped with high-performance AESA radar, modified wing inner structure and stealth in-board pylons. The engine is still the Russian AL-31F, which will be replaced by FADEC AL-31FM3 for better air performance. But China’s WS-10 engine also has opportunity.
The flight lasts about 10 minutes and the test pilot is believed to be Liang Wanjun (梁万俊).
Although closing to 3.5th+ generation fighters like Typhoon and Rafael, how many new J-10 fighters will be purchansed by PLA Air Force is still one question, because CAC and SAC have entered the drastic competition for PLA’s 5th generation fighter. There always a rumar that CAC will provide prototype fighter before 2012.
Choosing New J-10 or investing future combat aircraft ? Who knows!
January 16th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
When will the J-10B / FC-20 enter mass-production?
It seems to be a stop-gap between the J-11 and the J-XX. Gen
January 17th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Нет! Нет! Дэвид Блейн! Отпусти мой моск!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 6:04 am
does anyone know the latest status of the WS-10 engine that china is reportedly developing for J-10 ? This is a great aircraft but russia will put restrictions on export if china does not comes up with a very good engine of itself anytime soon. I heard few months back a J10 was forced to land because of russian engine failure, and the chinese engine is far from being fully completed, it has performance issues. Im sure china is doing great in all other areas, except this one.Anyone knows the latest update on WS10 ?