Metamorphoses of the Lavi into PLAAF J-10

Lion Cub to Vigorous Dragon

Perhaps the most intriguing of fighter aircraft development programmes in recent times is the ongoing story of the Chengdu J-10 which has excited much research and analyses by professional agencies and aviation aficionados alike. There have been persistent references to the Chinese having received help from the Israeli aircraft industry on early development of this Chinese multirole fighter, which programme was reportedly authorised by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s to match the contemporary MiG-29 and Su-27 of the then Soviet Union and the F-15 and F-16 which were mainstay of the USAF.

Artist's drawing of the Lavi

Rollout of the J-10 prototype at Chengdu

Such development work was assigned to Institute 611 at Chengdu with Song Wencong reportedly its Chief Designer, who had earlier worked on the J-7 III. In a typical Chinese approach, they reached out to international institutions for assistance if not outright reverse engineering. The Russians were an obvious source, including the Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute (SibNIA) which later confirmed their participation in the J-10 programme but only as “scientific guides”, but some of their personnel later candidly admitted that the J-10 had been a “melting pot of foreign technology and its design was more or less derived from the Israeli IAI Lavi”.

The Lavi development story is fascinating by itself. After the French had embargoed the delivery of more Mirage IIIs to Israel in 1967, the Israelis worked to make their own derivative, first the Nesher and then the Kfir which were produced in quantity to serve both the Israeli Air Force and meant for export. The Israelis thereafter switched to US-origin fighters, their A-4 Skyhawks being followed by increasing numbers of F-16s and F-15s but the indigenous industry also began development of the IAI Lavi (Lion Cub) of which three prototypes were built before the programme ceased, reportedly under US pressure.

The single-engined Lavi, incorporating composite materials, resembled the F-16 but included close coupled canards with advance quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire flight control systems. By late 1987 the Lavi programme had ceased but rumours abounded that the Chinese were ‘interested’ which aspect has been widely recorded since. As written by John W Golan in his book Lavi: the United States, Israel and a Controversial Fighter, “Israeli involvement in the J-10 appears to have begun at around the same time that China first opened diplomatic relations with Israel in January 1992 . . . Israeli contractors were engaged to provide the aerodynamic and structural outlines for the J-10. The Israeli influence on the J-10’s design are unmistakable: a close-coupled, canard-delta arrangement; a single-engine fighter featuring a ventral engine inlet; twin ventral strakes; and an area-ruled fuselage……”

J-10 seen with PL-12 active radar guided BVR air-to-air missiles, “considered comparable to the US AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Russian R-77"

Again under US pressure, Israel soon enough ceased its involvement in the J-10 programme and but in 2008 several interviews with Russian engineers returning from Chengdu had confirmed that “the J-10 benefited from significant, direct inputs from Israel’s Lavi programme - including receipt of one of the IAI Lavi prototypes itself which resulted in extensive design and performance modeling, wind-tunnel testing and advanced aerodynamic design input . . .”

As for the critical power plant, the Chinese obviously did not have access to the American PW1120 engine and therefore adopted the Russian AL-31F turbofan engine which resulted in the new fighter becoming significantly longer and heavier than the aircraft it had been cloned from.

The J-10s tandem-seating operation trainer

J-10A of the August 1st formation aerobatic team at Dubai

The first J-10 prototype was rolled out in November 1997, making its maiden flight on 23 March 1998. As per published sources, “the airframe appears to be constructed from metal alloys and composite materials, the large delta wing mid-mounted towards the rear of the fuselage, while a pair of canards are mounted higher up and towards the front of the fuselage, behind and below the cockpit. This configuration provides very high agility, especially at low speeds, and also reduces stall speed. A large vertical tail is present on top of the fuselage and small ventral fins underneath the fuselage provide for further stability. There is a two piece bubble canopy over the cockpit providing excellent vision for the pilot, with a zero-zero ejection seat provided, permitting safe ejection at zero altitude and zero speed”.

It is estimated that some 350 J-10s are in service with the PLAAF

A rectangular air intake ramp and a splitter plates in the first variant (J-10A) were located underneath the fuselage, providing air supply to the engine, but later variants incorporated a diverterless intake. Under the fuselage and wings are 11 hard points, for carrying various types of weaponry and drop-tanks containing extra fuel, the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) being 19,277 kg. The missile armament includes the PL-12 AAM, LS500J PGMs and the K/JDC-01 FLIR targeting pod.

The final J-10A rolled off the production line in Chengdu in 2014 and was supplemented by the J-10S tandem seating operational trainer, followed by the J-10B which features a lighter and stealthier diverterless supersonic inlet, a longer nose radome possibly housing a more advanced radar and electro-optic targeting sensor (IRST) plus a new electronic warning or countermeasures pod atop the vertical stabiliser. This aircraft is powered by the Russian-origin AL-31FNM1 even as the Chinese are continuing efforts to develop their WS-10A turbofan engine, again with considerable reverse engineering. In 2009, the J-10B was unveiled with a new fixed diverter less inlet (DSI), a flatter radome, an Infra-Red Search & Tracking Unit (IRST) and a holographic HUD.

Although powered by the Russian AL-31FN (series 3) turbofan, it is believed that the domestic WP-10B engine has been selected for this version. The radar sensor is an X-band passive electronically scanned array (PESA) developed by No. 607 Technical Institute.

The first frontline J-10B unit was formed in 2015 and about the same time the first J-10C, equipped with an AESA radar developed by the 14th Institute, and manufactured with greater use of composite material and the WS-10B, made its maiden flight at Chengdu. This latest variant is equipped with an indigenous active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire-control radar and infrared-homing PL-10. The Block 02 J-10C has replaced the Block 01 J-10B on the production lines and probably all J-10 variants will be brought to the J-10C standard by 2022, and equipped with the PL-15 BVRAAM.

At this time, some 350 J-10s are in active service with the PLAAF, which type is also the mount for the PLAAF’s August 1st formation aerobatic team.

Chengdu J-10A

Specifications

Length: 16.43 m (53 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 9.75 m (32 ft 0 in)
Height: 5.43 m (17 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 33 m2 (360 sq ft)
Empty weight: 9,750 kg (21,495 lb)
Gross weight: 12,400 kg (27,337 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 19,277 kg (42,499 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Saturn-Lyulka AL-31FN 3 afterburning
turbofan engines, 79.43 kN (17,860 lbf) thrust (Thrust/weight: 1.15

Performance

Ferry Range: 3,200 km (2,000 mi, 1,700 nmi)
Combat range: 1,250 km (780 mi, 670 nmi)
Maximum speed: Mach 2.2
Service ceiling: 18,000 m (59,000 ft)
g limits: +9/–3
Wing loading: 381 kg/m2 (78 lb/sq ft)
Instantaneous turn rate: 31+ degrees per second
Roll Rate: 300+ degrees per second

Armament

Gun: 1× Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23
Hardpoints: 11 in total (6 × under-wing, 2 × under-intake and 3 × underfuselage)
with a capacity of 7,000 kg (15,400 lb) for external fuel and
ordnance
Rockets: 90 mm unguided rocket pods

Missiles:

Air-to-air:

PL-8
PL-9
PL-10
PL-11
PL-12
PL-15

Air-to-surface :

PJ-9
YJ-9K

Bombs:

Laser-guided bombs: (LT-2)
Glide bombs: (LS-6, GB3, GB2A, GB3A)
Satellite-guided bombs: (FT-1)
Unguided bombs: 250 kg, 500 kg