Free Republic

China's J-10 fighter is now equipped with thrust vectoring controls that allow the jet to perform seemingly impossible aerial maneuvers. This long-rumored upgrade to a well-known jet fighter made its debut at the Zhuhai Air Show. The Chengdu J-10 “Vigorous Dragon” is a single-engine fighter developed for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (the Chinese Air Force). The J-10 falls in the same general category as the American F-16, and the two planes even share the same DNA, as the Chinese jet was built with Israeli assistance from Israel’s F-16-based Lavi fighter. However, in some technological respects, the China's plane...

BEIJING --- Pictures showed that 14 J-10B fighters painted with the mark of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAAF) were on the parking apron at the airport of the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co., Ltd. under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), meaning that this type of modified fighter will possibly be deployed to the aviation troops of the PLAAF, according to a recent report on the website of the Jane's Defense Weekly. Zhang Zhaozhong, a military expert at the National Defense University (NDU), said in an interview with reporters from the China Central Television (CCTV)...

The upcoming Zuhai airshow taking place in China next month will provide an opportunity to get first impressions of the new stealth jets and modernized fighter aircraft currently under development or recently delivered to the People's Republic of China Army, Air Force, Navy. China is expected to unveil its newest stealth fighter next month at the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition to be held next month in Zuhai. The J-31 stealth fighter will be shown to the public in demonstration flight, Chinese officials informed. China is intending the J-31 for export markets, initially as a land based fighter,...

China will need to produce about 1,200 fourth-generation fighters to be able to confront the air forces of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, if the three nations are successful in their bids to acquire advanced American fighters, in any potential conflict, according to the Moscow-based Russian Military Analysis on Oct. 9. Even though Taiwan maintains close economic ties with mainland China, the Russian-language newspaper said that the Taiwanese government under the leadership of Ma Ying-jeou has not given up its intention of purchasing advanced fighters from the United States such as the F-16C/D and even the F-35. Japan and South...

The J-10B — the upgrade version of China's J-10 fighter — recently entered service with the People's Liberation Army, with its designer Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group already developing the more advanced J-10C, reports the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television. Equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar, Phoenix Television stated that the J-10B has the capability to take out Japan's F-15J fighters if an aerial confrontation were to occur over the disputed Diaoyutai islands (called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China) in the East China Sea. The fighter is also built with radar absorbent material and better diverterless supersonic inlet,...

Close up of J-10B and J-20 AESA set? I stumbled across an image of what is supposedly the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the J-10B and J-20 at the Asian Defence News site. I have no idea as to the image's provenance (it is very likely a model), but a similar set was photographed on a J-10B test aircraft at Chengdu last year (below). The structure around the radar suggests this is the mounting for the J-10. The real radar probably has several more boxes - note the amount of fuselage space occupied by the guts of Raytheon's...

PLA air force denies rumors of experimental jet crash (People's Daily Online) On Oct. 9, Chinese air force authorities denied all rumor circulating online about the crash of a J-10B aircraft during a test flight in Xi'an Recently, a rumor spread online that a Chinese J-10 jet fighter crashed during a test flight in the Yan Liang district of Xi'an, Shanxi province. Internet reports had said that the pilot did not eject in order to save the aircraft and died in line of duty. On Oct. 9, a reporter from People's Daily Online asked Chinese air force authorities, who said...

China’s J-10B fighter to Pak worries India DNA / Hemanth CS / Thursday, August 4, 2011 15:26 IST The recent official offer of the Chinese to raise a squadron of its home-grown advanced multi-role, all-weather fighter aircraft J-10B to Pakistan has worried Indian defence experts. Pakistan will be the only other country apart from China to have this sophisticated fighter aircraft. Air Commodore (Retd) Jasjit Singh, director, New Delhi-based Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), told DNA: “India now not only faces the possibility of a two-front war but has to also deal with a two-front military modernisation programme with...

China to give squadron of J10-B fighters to Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Taking bilateral defence relations to a new high,China will givePakistan a squadron of the advanced J-10B fighter aircraft, a media report said. The offer was made by senior Chinese military leaders to visiting Pakistan Army's Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen.Waheed Arshad, the Urdu daily Jang reported on Saturday, quoting defence sources. The J-10B fighters are equipped with the latest weapons and Pakistan will be the first country, after China, to have these advanced aircraft, it said. During his visit, Lt.Gen.Arshad was assured that the defence relationship between the two...