Chengdu J - 10 The Chengdu J - 10 ( Jian - 10 ; , export designation F - 10 Vanguard ) is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People ' s Republic of China ' s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation ( CAC ) for the People ' s Liberation Army Air Force ( PLAAF ) . Known in the West as the " Vigorous Dragon " , the J - 10 is a multirole combat aircraft capable of all - weather operation . So far , only the PAF has signed a contract making it the only export contract for the J - 10 . Development . The program was authorized by Deng Xiaoping who allocated ¥ 0 . 5 billion to develop an indigenous aircraft . Work on Project # 10 started several years later in January 1988 , as a response to the Mikoyan MiG - 29 and Sukhoi Su - 27 then being introduced by the USSR . Development was delegated to the 611th Institute , also known as the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and Song Wencong was nominated as the chief designer , he had previously been the chief designer of the J - 7III . The aircraft was initially designed as a specialized fighter , but later became a multirole aircraft capable of both air to air combat and ground attack missions . The J - 10 was officially unveiled by the Chinese government in January 2007 , when photographs were published by Xinhua News Agency . The aircraft ' s existence was known long before the announcement , although concrete details remained scarce due to secrecy . A J - 10 prototype was speculated to have crashed during flight test . In the official announcement Xinhua News Agency and the PLA Daily denied such rumors , and listed this as one of the test pilots ' accomplishments . The prototype " J - 10 01 " was rolled out in November 1997 and first flown on 23 March 1998 in a twenty - minute flight . AVIC plans to market an upgraded J - 10 for export , most likely the J - 10B , once development is complete . Several countries have shown an interest in the type . Fighter jets of similar design . The J - 10 bears some resemblance to the Dassault Rafale , the Saab JAS 39 Gripen , and the Eurofighter Typhoon , in addition to the Mikoyan - Gurevich Ye - 8 , the Chengdu J - 9 and the Israeli IAI Lavi . Lavi is popularly described as having most similar canard - configuration to the J - 10 . News articles have claimed that some of the Lavi ' s technology had been sold to China by the Israelis , an allegation denied by both China and Israel . The general designer Song Wencong said that J - 10 was a development of the indigenous J - 9 which preceded the Lavi . This was echoed by a PLAAF ' s major Zhang Weigang in a 2012 interview . In 2006 , the Russian Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute ( SibNIA ) confirmed its participation in the J - 10 program ; SibNIA claimed to have only observed and instructed as " scientific guides " , while its engineers also believed the J - 10 was not only based on the Lavi , but also incorporated significant foreign technology and expertise . Operational history . The first aircraft were delivered to the 13th Test Regiment on 23 February 2003 . The aircraft was declared ' operational ' in December of the same year , after 18 years in development . The first operational regiment was the 131st Regiment of the 44th Division . Pakistan . In February 2006 , the then President of Pakistan , Pervez Musharraf , toured the J - 10 and JF - 17 production facilities on a trip to China during which the Pakistan Air Force ( PAF ) was offered the J - 10 , and the purchase of 36 FC - 20s , a Pakistan - specific J - 10B variant , was approved in April 2006 . In November 2009 , Pakistan signed a deal with China to buy 36 J - 10B fighters in a deal worth around $ 1 . 4 billion . Deliveries to Pakistan were expected to begin from 2014 – 15 and the aircraft was to be designated as FC - 20 in Pakistan . In July 2011 , Daily Jang reported that China will give a squadron of the advanced J - 10B fighter aircraft to Pakistan . According to the report , " the offer was made by senior Chinese military leaders to visiting Pakistan Army ' s Chief of General Staff , Lt Gen Waheed Arshad " . In March 2012 , talks were held between the two countries to discuss the delivery of latest J - 10B fighter jets to Pakistan . Design . J - 10 was designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute ( CADI ) , a subordinate research institute of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation ( CAIC ) . Airframe . The airframe is constructed from metal alloys and composite materials for high strength and low weight , the airframe ' s aerodynamic layout adopts a " tail - less canard delta " wing configuration . A large delta wing is mid - mounted towards the rear of the fuselage , while a pair of canards ( or foreplanes ) 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 , allowing for a lower airspeed during instrument approaches . A large vertical tail is present on top of the fuselage and small ventral fins underneath the fuselage provide further stability . A rectangular air intake is located underneath the fuselage , providing the air supply to the engine . Also under the fuselage and wings are 11 hardpoint s , used for carrying various types of weaponry and drop - tanks containing extra fuel . The retractable undercarriage comprises a steerable pair of nose - wheels underneath the air intake and two main gear wheels towards the rear of the fuselage . The cockpit is covered by a two - piece bubble canopy providing 360 degrees of visual coverage for the pilot . The canopy lifts upwards to permit cockpit entry and exit . The Controls take the form of a conventional centre stick and a throttle stick located to the left of the pilot . These also incorporate " hands on throttle and stick " ( HOTAS ) controls . A zero - zero ejection seat is provided for the pilot , permitting safe ejection in an emergency even at zero altitude and zero speed . Due to the J - 10 ' s aerodynamically unstable design , a digital quadruplex - redundant fly - by - wire ( FBW ) flight control system ( FCS ) aids the pilot in flying the aircraft . The FCS typically monitors pilot control inputs , ( similar in purpose to a high performance vehicle equipped with electronic stability control ) preventing the pilot from accidentally exiting the flight envelope from applying too much control input during high performance flight situations . This is critical in canard wing aircraft , as they are capable of turning in a much tighter radius than conventional aircraft . The massive control surfaces are capable of moving so far that they can completely destroy the aircraft in flight at high airspeeds if not kept in check by the FCS . At the 7th Zhuhai Airshow held in 2008 , the original test pilot of J - 10 program , Senior Colonel Lei Qiang ( 雷强 ) revealed to the public that due to the good aerodynamic design , J - 10 is superior than Sukhoi Su - 27 when performing Pugachev ' s Cobra , the maneuver Su - 27 is most famous for . The reason for J - 10 superior performance was because for Su - 27 , Pugachev ' s Cobra maneuver is depended on the speed , which limits the angle of attack it can pull , the slower the speed , the smaller the angle of attack . Pugachev ' s Cobra performed by J - 10 , on the other hand , was controlled by the pilot , who can achieve any angle of attack he / she wants ( Note : this is impossible . AOA is determined by aerodynamics not control ) , thanks to FBW FCS , which also set the maximum limit to prevent airframe damage due to the high g - force or for the pilot to lose consciousness at high speed . Avionics . The cockpit had three liquid crystal ( LCD ) Multi - function display s ( MFD ) along with a Chinese developed holographic head - up display ( HUD ) , all of which are fully compatible with a domestic Chinese advanced helmet mounted sight ( HMS ) , claimed by Chinese to be superior than the HMS on Sukhoi Su - 27 sold to China . Radar . According to Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation officials the J - 10 uses a multi - mode fire - control radar designed in China . The radar has a mechanically scanned planar array antenna and is capable of tracking 10 targets . Of the 10 targets tracked , 2 can be engaged simultaneously with semi - active radar homing missiles or 4 can be engaged with active radar homing missiles . The radar is believed to be designed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology ( NRIET ) , designated KLJ - 10 and a smaller variant is claimed to be installed on the JF - 17 light - weight fighter . Believed to be based on technologies from Russia , Israel or a combination of both , the radar should be comparable to Western fighter radar designs of the 1990s . It may also be replaced by more advanced radars of other origin on export versions of the J - 10 . The Italian FIAR ( now SELEX Galileo ) Grifo 2000 / 16 , has been offered to the Pakistan Air Force for installation on the J - 10 , should the PAF induct the aircraft . For J - 10B , the nose cone is modified to accommodate an active phased array airborne radar ( AESA ) radar . The general designer of AESA for J - 10B is Mr . Zhang Kunhui ( 张昆辉 , 1963 - ) , the head of 607 Research Institute in Neijiang , Sichuan . Mr . Zhang Kunhui became the deputy head of 607th Research Institute in 1997 , and four years later in 2001 , he became the head of the institute , when the AESA program for J - 10B started . The primary contractor of this AESA is the Radar and Electronic Equipment Research Academy of Aviation Industry Corporation of China located in Sichuan , formed in March 2004 by combining the 607th Research Institute and 171st Factory together with Mr . Zhang Kunhui was named as the head of the research academy . According to Chinese governmental media , the AESA for J - 10B took 8 years to develop , finally completed in 2008 , and Chinese fighter radars hence achieved a quantum leap in that it went from mechanically scanned planar slotted array directly into AESA , skipping the passive phased array PESA radar . Many suspected the radar is a PESA , but during its brief debuts in the 7th China International Defense Electronics Exhibition ( CIDEX ) in May 2010 and the 6th International Conference on Radar held in Beijing in Sept 2011 , Chinese official sources have claimed it is an AESA . Propulsion . The J - 10A is powered by a single Russian Lyulka - Saturn AL - 31FN turbofan engine giving a maximum static power output of 12 , 500 kgf . The AL - 31FN is based on the AL - 31F which was designed for a twin engine aircraft such as the Su - 27 , to fit the smaller J - 10 the engine parts have been moved and re - designed to fit the smaller engine bay in the J - 10 . The J - 10 was intended to be powered by the Chinese WS - 10 Taihang turbofan , but development difficulties forced the J - 10A to use a Russian engine instead . The J - 10B is likely equipped with the improved WS - 10A . Russia has offered to provide China with a version of the AL - 31FN that provides 12 , 500 kgf thrust and a 2 , 000 - hour service life . Weaponry and external loads . The aircraft ' s internal armament consists of a 23 mm twin - barrel cannon , located underneath the port side of the intake . Other weaponry and equipment is mounted externally on 11 hardpoint s , to which 6 , 000 kg ( 13 , 228 lb ) of either missiles and bombs , drop - tank s containing fuel , or other equipment such as avionics pods can be attached . Air - to - air missiles deployed may include short range air - to - air missile s such as the PL - 8 and PL - 9 , medium - range radar - guided air - to - air missiles such as the PL - 11 and PL - 12 , unguided and precision guided munitions such as laser - guided bombs , anti - ship missile s such as the YJ - 9K and anti - radiation missiles such as the PJ - 9 . Accidents and incidents . There have been four known crashes of the J - 10 to date . The first crash is speculated to have been a prototype during testing in 1998 with the most likely cause cited as failure of the fly - by - wire flight control system . However , China has denied such occurrence with official announcement . References . see also International AirPower Revue , Vol . 22 , Focus Aircraft : Chengdu J - 10 , p . 40 - 59 , ISSN 1473 - 9917 , AIRtime Publishing , 2007 .