The Jian-10 (J-10) development programme officially began in the mid-1980s, originally intended to be a high-performance air-superiority fighter to counter then emerging third-generation fighters such as F-16 and MiG-29. However, the end of the Cold War and changing requirements shifted the development towards a multirole fighter with both air-to-air and ground attack mission capabilities. This change was partially due to financial reasons, but more importantly it was a reflection of People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)’s transformation from solely the air defence role to a more balanced power with both defensive and offensive capabilities.
The J-10 fighter marks the highest achievement of the Chinese aviation industry in the 20th century. The programme involved a significant amount of new technologies, including composite materials, computerised flight-control (“fly-by-wire”), advanced avionics, computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), etc. In the J-10 programme, China not only obtained a modern fighter aircraft, but also gained considerable knowledge and experience in designing and developing modern combat aircraft. The programme has also benefited from Israeli and Russian technologies, including the fly-by-wire (FBW) software and AL-31FP turbofan engines.
Programme
PLAAF J-10 single-seater fighter with PL-8 and PL-11 AAMs (Chinese Internet)
The J-10 made its first successful flight on 22 March 1998. After five years of flight test at the China Flight Test Establishment (CFTE), the aircraft entered service with the PLAAF on 10 March 2003, when six pre-production variant single-seat J-10s were handed over to the PLAAF Flight Test & Training Base / 13th Test Regiment at the Cangzhou Airbase. Further tests and evaluation of the aircraft were carried out by the PLAAF before it was certified for design finalisation in early 2004. The first operational J-10 fighter unit was activated in the PLAAF 44th Air Division / 132nd Fighter Regiment based at Luliang Airbase in Yuannan Province on 13 July 2004.
The initial batch of 80~100 examples in both the single-seat variant and two-seater variant ( J-10S) were delivered to the PLAAF between 2004 and 2006. It was estimated that a total of 300 aircraft may be required by the PLAAF and PLA Navy. A number of countries including Pakistan, Iran, and Thailand have also shown strong interest in the aircraft. In March 2007, the Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistani Air Force told the press that the country was finalising a deal with China to purchase up to 32~40 J-10 fighters, with the delivery expected to take place in 2009. [1]
The J-10 programme was kept under tight security and high secrecy. The Chinese state media only announced the J-10 in November 2006, nearly two years after it entered service. Despite the huge publicity the J-10 has enjoyed on the Chinese media, no official data has been provided regarding the actual capabilities and performance of the aircraft. Without basic data such as the aircraft’s dimension and weight, one can only make estimates based on information available from open sources. The real performance of the aircraft, however, remains a state secret.
J-10S two-seater fighter-trainer (Chinese Internet)
The two-seater J-10S fighter-trainer is identical to the single-seater variant in performance and avionic configuration, but has its forward fuselage stretched to accommodate a second pilot seat. Two pilots sit in tandem in the two-seat cockpit with one single large bubble canopy. An enlarged dorsal spine accommodates additional avionic for the second pilot. The aircraft can be used for pilot training or as a standard fighter. A Chinese report suggested that the aircraft could also be modified for the airborne command & control aircraft role, with the rear-seat pilot being the commander of a small four-plane formation.
Design
As well as adopting advanced aerospace technologies, the J-10 also uses proven reliable designs to lower the technical difficult and costs. For example, the “tailless delta-canard” configuration was developed from the knowledge of the cancelled Chengdu J-9 fighter, while the computerised flight control was derived from software originally developed for the Israeli Lavi fighter. The AL-31F engine has been used by some of the most successful Russian fighters such as the Su-27, Su-30 and Su-33.
611 institute (Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute) initiated studied on the “tailless delta-canard” wing planform as early as the late 1960s. The short take-off and fast climbing capabilities of the fighters with such a wing planform was viewed as a major advantage by the PLAAF facing the threats of the predominant Soviet air power. In contrast to the classical tail-mounted elevators, the “tailless delta-canard” configuration has the horizontal control surfaces moved forward to become a canard in front of the wing. When the aircraft pitches up, instead of forcing the tail down decreasing overall lift, the canard lifts the nose, increasing the overall lift. Because the canard is picking up the fresh air stream instead of the wake behind the main wing, the aircraft can achieve better control authority with a smaller-size control surface, thus resulting in less drag and less weight.
J-10 fighter with refuelling probe (Chinese Internet)
The J-10 adopts an adjustable, chin-mounted air intake that supplies air to the single Lyulka-Saturn AL-31FN afterburning turbofan jet engine. The upper portion of the air intake is incorporated with an intake ramp designed to generate a rearward leaning oblique shock wave to aid the inlet compression process. The ramp sits at an acute angle to deflect the intake airstream from the longitudinal direction. This design created a gap between the air intake and the forward fuselage, and requires six small beams to enhance the structure for high-speed flight.
The tailless delta-canard configuration is inherently aerodynamically unstable, which provides a high level of agility, particularly at supersonic speeds. However, this requires a sophisticated computerised control system, or “fly-by-wire” (FBW), to provide artificial stabilisation and gust elevation to give good control characteristics throughout the flight envelope. The J-10 uses a digital quadruplex (four-channel FBW system developed by the 611 Institute. The software for the FBW system was developed by the 611 Institute using ADA language, based on the software originally developed for the cancelled Israeli Lavi fighter. The system was tested on the J-8IIACT technology demonstration aircraft.
The pilot sits in the cockpit located above the air intake and in front of the canard. The two-piece bubble canopy gives the pilot great vision at all directions, a vital feature during air-to-air combat. The onboard digital flight control computer ‘flies’ the aircraft for the pilot, providing automatic flight coordination and keeping 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 combat.
The J-10 is powered by a 122.5kN (12,500kg or 27,557lb) thrust Salyut AL-31FN turbofan engine, with 4,500kg internal fuel. The aircraft also features a digital fuel management system to help improve fuel assumption efficiency. The combat radius of the aircraft was estimated to be 550~600km, but it could be extended to over 1,000km once the aircraft is added with the aerial refuelling capability. The aircraft can be fitted with a fixed aerial refuelling probe on the starboard side of the cockpit.
