Chengdu J-10 - Development

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. In the official announcement Xinhua News Agency and the PLA Daily denied rumours that one of the prototypes had crashed during testing, and listed this as one of the test pilots' accomplishments. Later rumor blames the discrepancy on cover-up.

The prototype "J-10 01" was rolled out in November 1997 and first flown on 23 March 1998 in a twenty minute flight. Aerodynamic performance trials were carried out until early December 2003; aerial refuelling tests were also completed during this time. During the trials the aircraft exceeded several design requirements. The last part of the test flight programme, the live firing of air-to-air missiles, was carried out from 21 December 2003 to 25 December 2003.

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.