Total Manpower Strength 46,000

DESCRIPTION

Much of the information available in open sources is necessarily speculative. Nevertheless, the Boston Globereported on April 5, 2005, that the J-10, according to U.S. intelligence officials, is on par with the F-16 . It is expected to be the first production Chinese fighter to feature a sta tically unstable design requiring on a fly-by-wire control system. Manufacturing restraints are thought to have limited the amount of composite materials used in the aircraft, differentiating it from the Lavi, and giving it a traditional all-metal structure.

As with the Lavi and many other aircraft of that design generation -- such as the Dassault Rafale , SAAB JAS-39 Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon -- the J-10 features a close-coupled planform with cropped, double-delta wings and all-moving swept canard surfaces. The wings are likely to have leading -edge sweep, outboard leading-edge flaps, a trailing edge of elevons divided into inboard and outboard sections. Unlike the Lavi, the wings do not have tiprails for air-to-air missiles (AAM) or electronic support measures (ESM) pods. The swept canards are located below the cockpit and differ from t he mainplane in having both leading and trailing edges swept. Like the Lavi, the J-10 appears to have been designed with the ground-strike mission in mind.

The close canard design alters and redistributes the overall lift of the airplane in order to enhance aircraft's lift-to-drag ratio and improving air-to-air agility and range.

The vertical tail is considerably broader than that of the Lavi and has a lower taper ratio base to tip. The inset rudder is above the parachute brake housing. Small airbrakes are fitted on the fuselage to either side of the vertical tail and small quadrilateral ventral fins angle out from the lowe r fuselage below the fin.

It is generally agreed that the Chinese have had ample opportunity to study Western-designed digital fly-by-wire (FBW) systems, particularly those in the F-16 (through Pakistan) and the Lavi (which flew with a quadruple redundant Lear-Siegler system). Even so, the crash of at least one prototype ha s been ascribed to troubles with the FBW system (a fate that befell both the JAS-39 and the Taiwanese Ching-Kuo fighter). The maximum positive g limit is likely to be 9 g and the design is said by some to be more maneuverable than the F/A-18E/F . The military site Sinodefence.com reports that the ai rcraft is equipped with the Iron Bird four-channel digital fly-by-wire system.

The single underfuselage engine air intake has a more rectangular opening and a noticeable rake than those of the F-16 or Lavi. Unable to obtain the Pratt & Whitney F100 that powered the Lavi (although one reverse-engineered prototype may have flown in the early 1990s), Chinese designers turned to the Saturn Lyulka AL-31F. Although in the same power class as the F100, the AL-31F is larger and heavier, necessitating expanded dimensions. The AL-31F as flown in the Su-27 doesn't fit within the Chinese engine bay as designed, so the gearbox has been moved under the engine.

In 2001, Russia announced the sale of 300 Saturn AL-31Fs to China. An indigenous design from Wopen (variously identified as the WS-10, WS-12, WPS-12 and WP-15) is in the same power class. Reports in April 2002 suggested that the Chinese were uncertain that the AL-31 engines would be delivered as pl anned (and Russia reportedly denied a Chinese request to produce the AL-31 under license), Beijing was said to be accelerating development of the WS-10. The Chinese version of the engine is not currently equipped with thrust-vectoring capability, though this could be added in a future variant. The selection of the AL-31FN engine also meant that the aircraft would need to be larger than the Lavi design upon which it was based.

There is speculation that a carrier-based variant may be under development with two Klimov RD-33 or RD-93 engines. In the June 2002 yearly survey of military aircraft in Flight International, the J-10 is listed with a single Klimov RD-93 engine, which is the powerplant on the FC-1 also in de velopment in China. If a thrust-vectored version of any of these engines is to be adopted, its service-entry date will probably be pushed back.

The area-ruled fuselage has a raised forward section with pointed radome housing a multi-mode pulse-Doppler radar and an ejection seat in a cockpit enclosed by a single-piece canopy. The main gear retracts inward, wheels nesting in fuselage bays; the nose gear wheel assembly retracts to the rear un der the intake duct.

The J-10 may be equipped with an indigenous radar from China's 14th Technical Research Institute using Russian technology. However, several systems have been considered as candidates for the J-10 including a development of Phazotron's Zhuk multi-mode radar, possibly the PD10 or the Zhem Chung.

Phazotron negotiated a contract to supply Zhuk radars to China in 1997. At the time, the system was described as having six times the data and signal-processing power of the original Zhuk and a detection range of more than 80 km (50 mi, 43.2 nm). The radar can track while scanning 24 targets, displ ay up to eight of them and simultaneously provide fire-control solutions for two to four of them. Future variants may include the Phazotron RP-35 Zhemchug, which is an X-band radar with digital fire-control sensors and an electronically scanning phased-array antenna. Other potential radar candidate s included Elta's EL/M-2035. However, after the discovery that Chinese agents were stealing American nuclear secrets, U.S. pressure helped kill Israeli participation in the project.

The indigenous pulse-Doppler design, the KLJ-3 from Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology, could be an early variant of AN/APG-66 /68 technology (according to Sinodefence.com) with a maximum detecting range of 62 mi. to 81 mi. (attacking range 50 mi. to 56 mi.); it is capable of engag ing two targets simultaneously. The radar system was tested on a Y-7 aerial radar testbed before being fitted on the J-10.

In the cockpit, the pilot views flight and target data on three flat-panel liquid crystal multifunction displays (MFDs), one of which is a color unit. A helmet-mounted sight is connected to the wide field-of-view heads-up display (HUD) and the central mission computer. Other features include an int egrated hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) system and radar warning receiver. It is considered likely that the pilot would also be equipped with a head-mounted sight, though it is not known if that might be the basic Ukrainian Arsenel sight copied by China's Luoyang Avionics, or a new helmet displ ay featured briefly at the 2000 Zhuhai Air Show.

As many as 11 weapons stations carry AAMs, anti-ship or air-to-surface missiles, fuel tanks, bombs, ESM/ECM pods -- the usual array of weapons. A published plan view shows three plumbed pylons for fuel tanks, one under each inner wing and one under the fuselage. Outboard of each wing fuel station a re two more weapons pylons. Four underfuselage stations are available--two under the inlet and two just ahead of the elevon hinge line on either side of the drop tank. The J-10 also has fitting locations on the port side of the engine air take likely intended for an all-weather, night attack target ing pod of some variety. A 23-mm cannon is buried in one of the wing roots. The J-10 is reportedly compatible with a wide variety of Chinese, Israeli and Russian ordnance.

In July of 2008, a Military Periscope correspondent was on hand for a sneak peek before the official display of the J-10 in Beijing. For more details, see our special report entitled "Unveiling the J-10 Fighter," dated July 11, 2008.