超级军网看俄罗斯军网如何点评歼十
来源：百度文库 编辑：超级军网 时间：2024/04/29 07:15:29
尊西门版主嘱,将俄罗斯网站评论歼十的原文及译文单独开贴,供超大兄弟们参考.
China did a good job keeping the lid on the J-10 development. Until very recently little was made public about this project. What one could find in aviation directories about the J-10 was limited to the fact that the aircraft's design was based on the Lavi - Israel's half-hearted and eventually canned attempt to develop its own "F-16." Approximate performance characteristics and physical data were extrapolated from Lavi and similar aircraft but this was about the extent of the available analysis.
The J-10 is much more than just a development of the Lavi. The new Chengdu fighter has a potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters for the next few decades. The J-10 may very well be the next MiG-21 or F-16 in terms of its potential on the international market. I find it rather surprising that the J-10 attracted relatively little attention from aerospace publications worldwide.
Aerodynamic considerations
Initial development of what later was to become the J-10 project was started in October of 1988 by the Research Institute No. 611. Initially the aircraft was to be an air superiority fighter. The 1980s saw a number of similar aircraft designs featuring a main delta-wing and canards. Some of the designs, like the Rafale, Typhoon, Kfir, and Gripen made it to active service in the past decade, while others like the Lavi only made it to flying prototypes. Some designs, like the original Russian design for the Sukhoi S-37 (not to be confused with a later forward-swept wing S-37/Su-47 'Berkut') featured what is called a compound delta-wing.
What is a delta-wing and what advantages does it offer? Simply put, a delta-wing is a triangular wing planform. The most common delta-wing combat aircraft are the Dassault Mirage fighters. The delta-wing design was first implemented by Alexander Lippich - an engineer for the Zeppelin company in Germany since 1918 - who launched his first motorized delta-wing design in 1931.
Delta-wing configuration offers two important aerodynamic qualities to a combat aircraft. The swept leading edge of a delta-wing stays ahead of the shock wave generated by the nose of the aircraft during supersonic flight making delta-wing a very efficient aerodynamic wing shape for supersonic flight. The leading edge of delta-wing also generates a massive vortex that attaches itself to the upper surface of the wing during high angle-of-attack (AOA) maneuvers resulting in very high stall points. The angle-of-attack term refers to the angle between the aircraft's velocity vector and the wing plane.
While ideal for high-altitude supersonic flight delta-wing causes increased drag at lower speeds negatively impacting aircraft's fuel efficiency and low-speed maneuverability. Originally delta-wing aircraft were designed as high-speed interceptors and bombers. As development of the delta-wing concept progressed a compound delta-wing was introduced. In this configuration a small highly swept delta wing is added in front of the main wing for reduced drag at low speeds.
In modern fighter aircraft an element of a further development of the compound wing is known as LEX - leading edge extensions. These small "wings" at the root of the leading edge of the main wing (not necessarily a delta wing anymore) remain out of airflow in cruise flight and are used during high AOA maneuvers to generate a high-speed vortex that stays attached to the top of the main wing (Bernoulli principle). This maintains low pressure zone over the upper surface of the wing generating lift beyond what would have been the stall point for a single delta-wing.
Foreplane canards of the Eurofighter Typhoon The Su-35 features a tri-plane wing configuration that features canards, the main wing and the tailplane. The early Sukhoi S-37 configuration featuring canards and a compound delta wing
Modern fighter aircraft feature various combinations of canards, tailplanes and compound wings. Modern Russian aircraft like the Su-35 have a tri-plane configuration with all three of these elements present. Others, like the MiG MFI have a classic delta wing with the canards. The canard surface, unlike a conventional tailplane which it replaces in delta wing designs, generates positive lift. During high AOA maneuvers the canard surfaces stalls first. This causes the nose of the aircraft to pitch down and prevents the main wing from stalling - a very valuable feature for a fighter aircraft.
At the same time the canard surface creates a downwash which degrade the main wing's performance. Canards also make it very difficult to apply flaps: normally, extending flaps causes a downward movement of the nose, which is compensated by the tailplane. However, most airframe design involving canards do not have a tailplane and have thing to compensate for the effect of the flaps. Therefore, many designs involving canards have no flaps. There are some exceptions like the late-model Su-27-family fighters that have canards and the tailplane.
The delta-wing has another quality significant for a fighter aircraft: this wing profile offers increased survivability by having increased structural and airflow stability. From a financial point of view, a delta-wing is also cheaper to manufacture, which is not the last reason why you see this type of a wing on export-oriented aircraft like Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen. As it turned out the J-10 we see today has little in common with the Israeli 'Lavi'. The form of the delta wing has changed, the air intake is different, the shape of the nose section is different, the different shape and position of the canards, etc. The J-10 features a simple delta wing with relatively large movable canards. The nose section, the canards and the air intake look similar to those of MiG1.41.
The J-10 has a substantially more powerful engine than any other modern delta wing fighter in service. While the combined thrust of two-engine fighters like Rafale and Typhoon exceed that of a single Al-31FN, the J-10 is lighter and should have an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio.
In the recently-released photos of the J-10 the aircraft is seen with three external fuel tanks with at least 4,000kg total external fuel capacity.
History of Development
By 1993 the Chinese designers have constructed the first all-metal mockup of the J-10. Wind tunnel testing revealed potential problems with low-speed performance and less-than-expected maximum AOA at subsonic speeds. At the same time the main trend in fighter aircraft development was a transition from single-purpose fighters such as high-speed interceptor or low-altitude dogfighters to multirole aircraft combining good subsonic and supersonic air-to-air performance with extensive air-to-ground capabilities. Added requirements for air-to-ground operations called for an in-depth redesign of the J-10 to accommodate terrain-following radar, more and sturdier hardpoints, an entirely new targeting, flight control and navigation systems.
At the end of 1995 Russian involvement in the J-10 program was confirmed when it was announced that a first J-10 flight is expected in early 1996 with Russian-made Al-31FN turbofan engine. Runway tests took longer than expected while the designers tweaked the control systems of the first J-10 "1001" prototype. The first "official" flight took place on March 28, 1998, and was largely successful. However, the first actual flight of the J-10 might have taken place two years earlier - in mid-1996 - but suffered from an engine malfunction with unknown consequences. In late 1997 the second flying J-10 "1002" prototype was lost in a crash which also killed the chief test pilot. Nevertheless, the J-10 program continued as scheduled and two more prototypes - the "1003" and "1004" - were completed by the end of 1998. The same year the aircraft received its official service designation "J-10”.
The J-10 manufacturing, flight testing and service evaluation programs continued at a pace not seen in the world of combat aviation since the end of the Cold War. By mid-1999 China already had six prototypes: four of them used for flight testing two were used for static tests. By late 2000 nine J-10 prototypes were produced and the flying models accumulated over 140 flight hours. The first flight of the pre-production model took place on June 28, 2002, by which time China already had at least 10 of these aircraft. In early 2003 ten J-10s were deployed to Nanjing Military Region for training and operational evaluation. A photo released in 2003 shows a pair of J-10s in flight with numbers "1015" and "1016" indicating that at least 16 J-10s were built so far.
Also in 2003 China begun construction of two two-seat versions of the J-10 for training and air-to-ground roles. At the same time Chengdu (CAC) and the Research Institute No. 611 completed preliminary designs for two new versions of the J-10 featuring a single and twin engines and LO geometry. The new designs also feature a nose section angled downward for improved air-to-ground performance of the aircraft.
These latest additions in the J-10 design - the construction of the two-seater versions and the study of a stealthy version with angled nose section - indicate that China is interested in expanded air-to-ground capability for its future J-10 fleet, thus moving from the original concept of a tactical air defense fighter to a multirole fighter-bomber with LO features and, perhaps, to a dedicated ground attack variant. Latest Chinese reports refer to the J-10 as "Qian Shi-10" ("Attack 10") as opposed to the original name "Jian-10" ("Fighter 10"). The transition of the J-10 program from a dedicated fighter to a ground attack aircraft coincided with China's co-production of the J-11 (locally-produced Su-27), thus making the J-10 a likely replacement for the J-7/Q-5 attack planes rather than competition to the J-11.
Radar
Extent of Russian involvement in the J-10 program is significant. In addition to providing the J-10 with the Al-31FN turbojet Russia also offered advanced multifunction radars, navigation and targeting systems, ECM suite, and missile warning and defense systems. Russian avionics manufacturer Phazotron offered China three different radars for the J-10 project. These include the N010 "Zhuk" ("Beetle") and the RP-35 "Zhemchug" ("Pearls"). The "Zhuk" radar ("Zhuk-8-II") has been selected by China for the F-8IIM upgrade program. Over a hundred of these radars were recently sold to China.
"Zhuk" is a large family of X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) airborne multimode radars. The radar was originally developed for the MiG-29 tactical fighter but since then a multitude of versions have been produced for MiG-23, Su-27, F-8IIM and other aircraft. Later models of "Zhuk" offer look-up/look-down range-while-search and Track-While-Scan of 10 targets with simultaneous engagement of up to four (two targets for the "Zhuk-8-II"); vertical search; head-up display search; wide-angle search; boresight and automatic terrain avoidance for low-altitude combat operations; real beam ground-mapping; Doppler beam sharpening; synthetic aperture; display enlargement/freeze; TWS on four targets; ground target Moving Target Indicator (MTI)/tracker; air-to-surface ranging and navigation update. Weapons compatibility for "Zhuk" includes the Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E and RW-AE missiles. Later models of "Zhuk" such as the "Zhuk-F" offer detection range of up to 200km for a 5 m2 RCS targets with +/- 70 deg angular coverage and detection of 24 targets with simultaneous tracking of 8 targets. The radar weighs between 180 kg and 300 kg depending on the model.
The most likely candidate for the J-10's future radar is the Phazotron RP-35 "Zhemchug" which is an X-band radar with digital fire-control sensors and an electronically scanning phased-array antenna. The radar features a liquid-cooled traveling wave tube transmitter; an exciter; a three channel microwave receiver and programmable signal and data processors. All critical radar controls for "Zhemchug" are integrated into the aircraft's throttle grip and stick controller and radar data is displayed via the head-up and head-down displays allowing for one-man operation. This radar has an expanded air-to-ground capability and is compatible with a wide range of Russian air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
Another candidate is the Chinese version of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2035 multimode pulse Doppler fire control radar based on the original development by Elta Electronics Industries - a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries Electronics Group. This radar is used on the South African Denel (Atlas) "Cheetah" fighter - a development of the Dassault "Mirage III". The Elta EL/M-2035 radar is based on the 2021B version used by the IAI Kfir-C2 fighter. The radar offers a range of 46km for a 5 m2 RCS target, five air-to-air modes (automatic target acquisition, boresight, look-down, look-up, and track-while-scan) and two air-to-ground modes (beam-sharpened ground mapping and terrain avoidance and sea-search). Originally the Elta EL/M-2035 was developed for the "Lavi" program and after the program's cancellation the radar was offered for export.
Engine
The Lyulka-Saturn Al-31 turbojet is the main Russian engine for modern fighter aircraft. Numerous modifications of the Al-31 have been produced, including the world's first supersonic jet engine with a thrust-vectoring nozzle. Various versions of this engine are used on Su-27, Su-27SK, Su-27UBK, Su-30MKK produced for China's PLAAF, Su-30MKI produced for the Indian Air Force and other fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft. The Al-31FN - a development of the Al-31F - was created in 1992-1994 and features increased thrust, fadec control with hydraulic fuel pressure-activated back-up and significantly improved fuel economy. The Al-31FN is used on Su-32 (Su-27IB), Su-27SM (Su-35) and Su-32FN permitting these aircraft to have a maximum range of well over 4,000 km on internal fuel. The initial delivery of Al-31FN engines to China took place in 2001-2002 and numbered some 54 non-thrust-vectoring engines. China's CEC is also believed to have successfully negotiated with Russia license production of Al-31 engines. Later models of the J-10 are likely to use the thrust-vectoring version of the Al-31FN.
The Al-31-series engines proved to be reliable, relatively simple to maintain and offering great performance. Design work on the Al-31 begun in 1963 and the first prototype of the engine was tested in 1974. In 1986 a P-42 (modified Su-27 prototype) powered by two Al-31F engines set 32 time-to-height records. Recent computer simulations conducted by the US Air Force and Boeing showed that an Al-31FP-equipped Su-30MK outperformed the F-15C in a diverse range of engagements. A basic comparison of the Al-31FN (developed in 1992-1994) and the F100-PW-232 (the ultimate version of the Pratt & Whitney F100 developed in 1999-2001 and designed to be retrofitted to the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft) reveals that the Russian engine provides near-identical performance while being more than 300 kg lighter (not to mention substantially less expensive). The next generation of Russian turbofan engines - the Al-41 - offers a dramatic increase in power and reliability. The Al-41 is currently being tested on Su-47, MiG MFI and Su-32FN. The Al-41F is planned as the future engine for the LFI project.
Conclusion
The new Chinese fighter-bomber today represents little threat to the Russian share of the fighter market. Even in China the J-10 is unlikely to compete with the license-produced Su-27 or the imported Su-30MK. However, everything about the current version of the J-10 that we have seen says that it is a transitional model. Already Chengdu is moving toward a two-engine version that would incorporate LO geometry and expanded air-to-ground capability.
Looking at the striking progress of the J-10 (especially in comparison to Russia's own slow-paced development of the next-generation interceptor MFI and the attack aircraft LFS) it should be expected that the future development of the J-10 may be only 3-6 years away. And this will be the aircraft that may eventually encroach on Russia's traditional fighter export market and not just Russia's. This may happen sooner than many Russian and Western analysts believe today. For Russia the J-10 and its derivatives may be what the MiG-15 was for the West half-a-century ago: a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Russian components, American components: they are all made in Taiwan", said a Russian cosmonaut in the "Armageddon" sci-fi flick with Bruce Willis. Today China may be lacking in the avionics and engine departments but nothing prevents it from buying everything it needs from Russia, France and other eager suppliers of advanced aerospace components. You need an engine? Russia offers its best fighter turbofans at a very reasonable price. You need a radar or avionics? Russia, France and Israel will be more than happy to supply top-of-the-line equipment.
Russians had to reproduce a Rolls-Royce jet in secret and at great expense to put it on its MiG-15. Today there is no need for such extreme measures: all essential advanced components are readily available. What really matters is experience with integrating these systems to produce a fighter aircraft. The J-10 clearly shows that China is rapidly gaining this experience.
The new Chinese fighter-bomber will be a welcome addition to the PLAAF, considerably boosting the service's tactical offensive capabilities. Taiwan's Western technological edge is quickly melting away and China's military buildup inevitably leads to restoring the country's territorial integrity. The J-10 is a significant piece of this great wall being built around Taiwan.尊西门版主嘱,将俄罗斯网站评论歼十的原文及译文单独开贴,供超大兄弟们参考.
China did a good job keeping the lid on the J-10 development. Until very recently little was made public about this project. What one could find in aviation directories about the J-10 was limited to the fact that the aircraft's design was based on the Lavi - Israel's half-hearted and eventually canned attempt to develop its own "F-16." Approximate performance characteristics and physical data were extrapolated from Lavi and similar aircraft but this was about the extent of the available analysis.
The J-10 is much more than just a development of the Lavi. The new Chengdu fighter has a potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters for the next few decades. The J-10 may very well be the next MiG-21 or F-16 in terms of its potential on the international market. I find it rather surprising that the J-10 attracted relatively little attention from aerospace publications worldwide.
Aerodynamic considerations
Initial development of what later was to become the J-10 project was started in October of 1988 by the Research Institute No. 611. Initially the aircraft was to be an air superiority fighter. The 1980s saw a number of similar aircraft designs featuring a main delta-wing and canards. Some of the designs, like the Rafale, Typhoon, Kfir, and Gripen made it to active service in the past decade, while others like the Lavi only made it to flying prototypes. Some designs, like the original Russian design for the Sukhoi S-37 (not to be confused with a later forward-swept wing S-37/Su-47 'Berkut') featured what is called a compound delta-wing.
What is a delta-wing and what advantages does it offer? Simply put, a delta-wing is a triangular wing planform. The most common delta-wing combat aircraft are the Dassault Mirage fighters. The delta-wing design was first implemented by Alexander Lippich - an engineer for the Zeppelin company in Germany since 1918 - who launched his first motorized delta-wing design in 1931.
Delta-wing configuration offers two important aerodynamic qualities to a combat aircraft. The swept leading edge of a delta-wing stays ahead of the shock wave generated by the nose of the aircraft during supersonic flight making delta-wing a very efficient aerodynamic wing shape for supersonic flight. The leading edge of delta-wing also generates a massive vortex that attaches itself to the upper surface of the wing during high angle-of-attack (AOA) maneuvers resulting in very high stall points. The angle-of-attack term refers to the angle between the aircraft's velocity vector and the wing plane.
While ideal for high-altitude supersonic flight delta-wing causes increased drag at lower speeds negatively impacting aircraft's fuel efficiency and low-speed maneuverability. Originally delta-wing aircraft were designed as high-speed interceptors and bombers. As development of the delta-wing concept progressed a compound delta-wing was introduced. In this configuration a small highly swept delta wing is added in front of the main wing for reduced drag at low speeds.
In modern fighter aircraft an element of a further development of the compound wing is known as LEX - leading edge extensions. These small "wings" at the root of the leading edge of the main wing (not necessarily a delta wing anymore) remain out of airflow in cruise flight and are used during high AOA maneuvers to generate a high-speed vortex that stays attached to the top of the main wing (Bernoulli principle). This maintains low pressure zone over the upper surface of the wing generating lift beyond what would have been the stall point for a single delta-wing.
Foreplane canards of the Eurofighter Typhoon The Su-35 features a tri-plane wing configuration that features canards, the main wing and the tailplane. The early Sukhoi S-37 configuration featuring canards and a compound delta wing
Modern fighter aircraft feature various combinations of canards, tailplanes and compound wings. Modern Russian aircraft like the Su-35 have a tri-plane configuration with all three of these elements present. Others, like the MiG MFI have a classic delta wing with the canards. The canard surface, unlike a conventional tailplane which it replaces in delta wing designs, generates positive lift. During high AOA maneuvers the canard surfaces stalls first. This causes the nose of the aircraft to pitch down and prevents the main wing from stalling - a very valuable feature for a fighter aircraft.
At the same time the canard surface creates a downwash which degrade the main wing's performance. Canards also make it very difficult to apply flaps: normally, extending flaps causes a downward movement of the nose, which is compensated by the tailplane. However, most airframe design involving canards do not have a tailplane and have thing to compensate for the effect of the flaps. Therefore, many designs involving canards have no flaps. There are some exceptions like the late-model Su-27-family fighters that have canards and the tailplane.
The delta-wing has another quality significant for a fighter aircraft: this wing profile offers increased survivability by having increased structural and airflow stability. From a financial point of view, a delta-wing is also cheaper to manufacture, which is not the last reason why you see this type of a wing on export-oriented aircraft like Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen. As it turned out the J-10 we see today has little in common with the Israeli 'Lavi'. The form of the delta wing has changed, the air intake is different, the shape of the nose section is different, the different shape and position of the canards, etc. The J-10 features a simple delta wing with relatively large movable canards. The nose section, the canards and the air intake look similar to those of MiG1.41.
The J-10 has a substantially more powerful engine than any other modern delta wing fighter in service. While the combined thrust of two-engine fighters like Rafale and Typhoon exceed that of a single Al-31FN, the J-10 is lighter and should have an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio.
In the recently-released photos of the J-10 the aircraft is seen with three external fuel tanks with at least 4,000kg total external fuel capacity.
History of Development
By 1993 the Chinese designers have constructed the first all-metal mockup of the J-10. Wind tunnel testing revealed potential problems with low-speed performance and less-than-expected maximum AOA at subsonic speeds. At the same time the main trend in fighter aircraft development was a transition from single-purpose fighters such as high-speed interceptor or low-altitude dogfighters to multirole aircraft combining good subsonic and supersonic air-to-air performance with extensive air-to-ground capabilities. Added requirements for air-to-ground operations called for an in-depth redesign of the J-10 to accommodate terrain-following radar, more and sturdier hardpoints, an entirely new targeting, flight control and navigation systems.
At the end of 1995 Russian involvement in the J-10 program was confirmed when it was announced that a first J-10 flight is expected in early 1996 with Russian-made Al-31FN turbofan engine. Runway tests took longer than expected while the designers tweaked the control systems of the first J-10 "1001" prototype. The first "official" flight took place on March 28, 1998, and was largely successful. However, the first actual flight of the J-10 might have taken place two years earlier - in mid-1996 - but suffered from an engine malfunction with unknown consequences. In late 1997 the second flying J-10 "1002" prototype was lost in a crash which also killed the chief test pilot. Nevertheless, the J-10 program continued as scheduled and two more prototypes - the "1003" and "1004" - were completed by the end of 1998. The same year the aircraft received its official service designation "J-10”.
The J-10 manufacturing, flight testing and service evaluation programs continued at a pace not seen in the world of combat aviation since the end of the Cold War. By mid-1999 China already had six prototypes: four of them used for flight testing two were used for static tests. By late 2000 nine J-10 prototypes were produced and the flying models accumulated over 140 flight hours. The first flight of the pre-production model took place on June 28, 2002, by which time China already had at least 10 of these aircraft. In early 2003 ten J-10s were deployed to Nanjing Military Region for training and operational evaluation. A photo released in 2003 shows a pair of J-10s in flight with numbers "1015" and "1016" indicating that at least 16 J-10s were built so far.
Also in 2003 China begun construction of two two-seat versions of the J-10 for training and air-to-ground roles. At the same time Chengdu (CAC) and the Research Institute No. 611 completed preliminary designs for two new versions of the J-10 featuring a single and twin engines and LO geometry. The new designs also feature a nose section angled downward for improved air-to-ground performance of the aircraft.
These latest additions in the J-10 design - the construction of the two-seater versions and the study of a stealthy version with angled nose section - indicate that China is interested in expanded air-to-ground capability for its future J-10 fleet, thus moving from the original concept of a tactical air defense fighter to a multirole fighter-bomber with LO features and, perhaps, to a dedicated ground attack variant. Latest Chinese reports refer to the J-10 as "Qian Shi-10" ("Attack 10") as opposed to the original name "Jian-10" ("Fighter 10"). The transition of the J-10 program from a dedicated fighter to a ground attack aircraft coincided with China's co-production of the J-11 (locally-produced Su-27), thus making the J-10 a likely replacement for the J-7/Q-5 attack planes rather than competition to the J-11.
Radar
Extent of Russian involvement in the J-10 program is significant. In addition to providing the J-10 with the Al-31FN turbojet Russia also offered advanced multifunction radars, navigation and targeting systems, ECM suite, and missile warning and defense systems. Russian avionics manufacturer Phazotron offered China three different radars for the J-10 project. These include the N010 "Zhuk" ("Beetle") and the RP-35 "Zhemchug" ("Pearls"). The "Zhuk" radar ("Zhuk-8-II") has been selected by China for the F-8IIM upgrade program. Over a hundred of these radars were recently sold to China.
"Zhuk" is a large family of X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) airborne multimode radars. The radar was originally developed for the MiG-29 tactical fighter but since then a multitude of versions have been produced for MiG-23, Su-27, F-8IIM and other aircraft. Later models of "Zhuk" offer look-up/look-down range-while-search and Track-While-Scan of 10 targets with simultaneous engagement of up to four (two targets for the "Zhuk-8-II"); vertical search; head-up display search; wide-angle search; boresight and automatic terrain avoidance for low-altitude combat operations; real beam ground-mapping; Doppler beam sharpening; synthetic aperture; display enlargement/freeze; TWS on four targets; ground target Moving Target Indicator (MTI)/tracker; air-to-surface ranging and navigation update. Weapons compatibility for "Zhuk" includes the Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E and RW-AE missiles. Later models of "Zhuk" such as the "Zhuk-F" offer detection range of up to 200km for a 5 m2 RCS targets with +/- 70 deg angular coverage and detection of 24 targets with simultaneous tracking of 8 targets. The radar weighs between 180 kg and 300 kg depending on the model.
The most likely candidate for the J-10's future radar is the Phazotron RP-35 "Zhemchug" which is an X-band radar with digital fire-control sensors and an electronically scanning phased-array antenna. The radar features a liquid-cooled traveling wave tube transmitter; an exciter; a three channel microwave receiver and programmable signal and data processors. All critical radar controls for "Zhemchug" are integrated into the aircraft's throttle grip and stick controller and radar data is displayed via the head-up and head-down displays allowing for one-man operation. This radar has an expanded air-to-ground capability and is compatible with a wide range of Russian air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
Another candidate is the Chinese version of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2035 multimode pulse Doppler fire control radar based on the original development by Elta Electronics Industries - a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries Electronics Group. This radar is used on the South African Denel (Atlas) "Cheetah" fighter - a development of the Dassault "Mirage III". The Elta EL/M-2035 radar is based on the 2021B version used by the IAI Kfir-C2 fighter. The radar offers a range of 46km for a 5 m2 RCS target, five air-to-air modes (automatic target acquisition, boresight, look-down, look-up, and track-while-scan) and two air-to-ground modes (beam-sharpened ground mapping and terrain avoidance and sea-search). Originally the Elta EL/M-2035 was developed for the "Lavi" program and after the program's cancellation the radar was offered for export.
Engine
The Lyulka-Saturn Al-31 turbojet is the main Russian engine for modern fighter aircraft. Numerous modifications of the Al-31 have been produced, including the world's first supersonic jet engine with a thrust-vectoring nozzle. Various versions of this engine are used on Su-27, Su-27SK, Su-27UBK, Su-30MKK produced for China's PLAAF, Su-30MKI produced for the Indian Air Force and other fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft. The Al-31FN - a development of the Al-31F - was created in 1992-1994 and features increased thrust, fadec control with hydraulic fuel pressure-activated back-up and significantly improved fuel economy. The Al-31FN is used on Su-32 (Su-27IB), Su-27SM (Su-35) and Su-32FN permitting these aircraft to have a maximum range of well over 4,000 km on internal fuel. The initial delivery of Al-31FN engines to China took place in 2001-2002 and numbered some 54 non-thrust-vectoring engines. China's CEC is also believed to have successfully negotiated with Russia license production of Al-31 engines. Later models of the J-10 are likely to use the thrust-vectoring version of the Al-31FN.
The Al-31-series engines proved to be reliable, relatively simple to maintain and offering great performance. Design work on the Al-31 begun in 1963 and the first prototype of the engine was tested in 1974. In 1986 a P-42 (modified Su-27 prototype) powered by two Al-31F engines set 32 time-to-height records. Recent computer simulations conducted by the US Air Force and Boeing showed that an Al-31FP-equipped Su-30MK outperformed the F-15C in a diverse range of engagements. A basic comparison of the Al-31FN (developed in 1992-1994) and the F100-PW-232 (the ultimate version of the Pratt & Whitney F100 developed in 1999-2001 and designed to be retrofitted to the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft) reveals that the Russian engine provides near-identical performance while being more than 300 kg lighter (not to mention substantially less expensive). The next generation of Russian turbofan engines - the Al-41 - offers a dramatic increase in power and reliability. The Al-41 is currently being tested on Su-47, MiG MFI and Su-32FN. The Al-41F is planned as the future engine for the LFI project.
Conclusion
The new Chinese fighter-bomber today represents little threat to the Russian share of the fighter market. Even in China the J-10 is unlikely to compete with the license-produced Su-27 or the imported Su-30MK. However, everything about the current version of the J-10 that we have seen says that it is a transitional model. Already Chengdu is moving toward a two-engine version that would incorporate LO geometry and expanded air-to-ground capability.
Looking at the striking progress of the J-10 (especially in comparison to Russia's own slow-paced development of the next-generation interceptor MFI and the attack aircraft LFS) it should be expected that the future development of the J-10 may be only 3-6 years away. And this will be the aircraft that may eventually encroach on Russia's traditional fighter export market and not just Russia's. This may happen sooner than many Russian and Western analysts believe today. For Russia the J-10 and its derivatives may be what the MiG-15 was for the West half-a-century ago: a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Russian components, American components: they are all made in Taiwan", said a Russian cosmonaut in the "Armageddon" sci-fi flick with Bruce Willis. Today China may be lacking in the avionics and engine departments but nothing prevents it from buying everything it needs from Russia, France and other eager suppliers of advanced aerospace components. You need an engine? Russia offers its best fighter turbofans at a very reasonable price. You need a radar or avionics? Russia, France and Israel will be more than happy to supply top-of-the-line equipment.
Russians had to reproduce a Rolls-Royce jet in secret and at great expense to put it on its MiG-15. Today there is no need for such extreme measures: all essential advanced components are readily available. What really matters is experience with integrating these systems to produce a fighter aircraft. The J-10 clearly shows that China is rapidly gaining this experience.
The new Chinese fighter-bomber will be a welcome addition to the PLAAF, considerably boosting the service's tactical offensive capabilities. Taiwan's Western technological edge is quickly melting away and China's military buildup inevitably leads to restoring the country's territorial integrity. The J-10 is a significant piece of this great wall being built around Taiwan.
China did a good job keeping the lid on the J-10 development. Until very recently little was made public about this project. What one could find in aviation directories about the J-10 was limited to the fact that the aircraft's design was based on the Lavi - Israel's half-hearted and eventually canned attempt to develop its own "F-16." Approximate performance characteristics and physical data were extrapolated from Lavi and similar aircraft but this was about the extent of the available analysis.
The J-10 is much more than just a development of the Lavi. The new Chengdu fighter has a potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters for the next few decades. The J-10 may very well be the next MiG-21 or F-16 in terms of its potential on the international market. I find it rather surprising that the J-10 attracted relatively little attention from aerospace publications worldwide.
Aerodynamic considerations
Initial development of what later was to become the J-10 project was started in October of 1988 by the Research Institute No. 611. Initially the aircraft was to be an air superiority fighter. The 1980s saw a number of similar aircraft designs featuring a main delta-wing and canards. Some of the designs, like the Rafale, Typhoon, Kfir, and Gripen made it to active service in the past decade, while others like the Lavi only made it to flying prototypes. Some designs, like the original Russian design for the Sukhoi S-37 (not to be confused with a later forward-swept wing S-37/Su-47 'Berkut') featured what is called a compound delta-wing.
What is a delta-wing and what advantages does it offer? Simply put, a delta-wing is a triangular wing planform. The most common delta-wing combat aircraft are the Dassault Mirage fighters. The delta-wing design was first implemented by Alexander Lippich - an engineer for the Zeppelin company in Germany since 1918 - who launched his first motorized delta-wing design in 1931.
Delta-wing configuration offers two important aerodynamic qualities to a combat aircraft. The swept leading edge of a delta-wing stays ahead of the shock wave generated by the nose of the aircraft during supersonic flight making delta-wing a very efficient aerodynamic wing shape for supersonic flight. The leading edge of delta-wing also generates a massive vortex that attaches itself to the upper surface of the wing during high angle-of-attack (AOA) maneuvers resulting in very high stall points. The angle-of-attack term refers to the angle between the aircraft's velocity vector and the wing plane.
While ideal for high-altitude supersonic flight delta-wing causes increased drag at lower speeds negatively impacting aircraft's fuel efficiency and low-speed maneuverability. Originally delta-wing aircraft were designed as high-speed interceptors and bombers. As development of the delta-wing concept progressed a compound delta-wing was introduced. In this configuration a small highly swept delta wing is added in front of the main wing for reduced drag at low speeds.
In modern fighter aircraft an element of a further development of the compound wing is known as LEX - leading edge extensions. These small "wings" at the root of the leading edge of the main wing (not necessarily a delta wing anymore) remain out of airflow in cruise flight and are used during high AOA maneuvers to generate a high-speed vortex that stays attached to the top of the main wing (Bernoulli principle). This maintains low pressure zone over the upper surface of the wing generating lift beyond what would have been the stall point for a single delta-wing.
Foreplane canards of the Eurofighter Typhoon The Su-35 features a tri-plane wing configuration that features canards, the main wing and the tailplane. The early Sukhoi S-37 configuration featuring canards and a compound delta wing
Modern fighter aircraft feature various combinations of canards, tailplanes and compound wings. Modern Russian aircraft like the Su-35 have a tri-plane configuration with all three of these elements present. Others, like the MiG MFI have a classic delta wing with the canards. The canard surface, unlike a conventional tailplane which it replaces in delta wing designs, generates positive lift. During high AOA maneuvers the canard surfaces stalls first. This causes the nose of the aircraft to pitch down and prevents the main wing from stalling - a very valuable feature for a fighter aircraft.
At the same time the canard surface creates a downwash which degrade the main wing's performance. Canards also make it very difficult to apply flaps: normally, extending flaps causes a downward movement of the nose, which is compensated by the tailplane. However, most airframe design involving canards do not have a tailplane and have thing to compensate for the effect of the flaps. Therefore, many designs involving canards have no flaps. There are some exceptions like the late-model Su-27-family fighters that have canards and the tailplane.
The delta-wing has another quality significant for a fighter aircraft: this wing profile offers increased survivability by having increased structural and airflow stability. From a financial point of view, a delta-wing is also cheaper to manufacture, which is not the last reason why you see this type of a wing on export-oriented aircraft like Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen. As it turned out the J-10 we see today has little in common with the Israeli 'Lavi'. The form of the delta wing has changed, the air intake is different, the shape of the nose section is different, the different shape and position of the canards, etc. The J-10 features a simple delta wing with relatively large movable canards. The nose section, the canards and the air intake look similar to those of MiG1.41.
The J-10 has a substantially more powerful engine than any other modern delta wing fighter in service. While the combined thrust of two-engine fighters like Rafale and Typhoon exceed that of a single Al-31FN, the J-10 is lighter and should have an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio.
In the recently-released photos of the J-10 the aircraft is seen with three external fuel tanks with at least 4,000kg total external fuel capacity.
History of Development
By 1993 the Chinese designers have constructed the first all-metal mockup of the J-10. Wind tunnel testing revealed potential problems with low-speed performance and less-than-expected maximum AOA at subsonic speeds. At the same time the main trend in fighter aircraft development was a transition from single-purpose fighters such as high-speed interceptor or low-altitude dogfighters to multirole aircraft combining good subsonic and supersonic air-to-air performance with extensive air-to-ground capabilities. Added requirements for air-to-ground operations called for an in-depth redesign of the J-10 to accommodate terrain-following radar, more and sturdier hardpoints, an entirely new targeting, flight control and navigation systems.
At the end of 1995 Russian involvement in the J-10 program was confirmed when it was announced that a first J-10 flight is expected in early 1996 with Russian-made Al-31FN turbofan engine. Runway tests took longer than expected while the designers tweaked the control systems of the first J-10 "1001" prototype. The first "official" flight took place on March 28, 1998, and was largely successful. However, the first actual flight of the J-10 might have taken place two years earlier - in mid-1996 - but suffered from an engine malfunction with unknown consequences. In late 1997 the second flying J-10 "1002" prototype was lost in a crash which also killed the chief test pilot. Nevertheless, the J-10 program continued as scheduled and two more prototypes - the "1003" and "1004" - were completed by the end of 1998. The same year the aircraft received its official service designation "J-10”.
The J-10 manufacturing, flight testing and service evaluation programs continued at a pace not seen in the world of combat aviation since the end of the Cold War. By mid-1999 China already had six prototypes: four of them used for flight testing two were used for static tests. By late 2000 nine J-10 prototypes were produced and the flying models accumulated over 140 flight hours. The first flight of the pre-production model took place on June 28, 2002, by which time China already had at least 10 of these aircraft. In early 2003 ten J-10s were deployed to Nanjing Military Region for training and operational evaluation. A photo released in 2003 shows a pair of J-10s in flight with numbers "1015" and "1016" indicating that at least 16 J-10s were built so far.
Also in 2003 China begun construction of two two-seat versions of the J-10 for training and air-to-ground roles. At the same time Chengdu (CAC) and the Research Institute No. 611 completed preliminary designs for two new versions of the J-10 featuring a single and twin engines and LO geometry. The new designs also feature a nose section angled downward for improved air-to-ground performance of the aircraft.
These latest additions in the J-10 design - the construction of the two-seater versions and the study of a stealthy version with angled nose section - indicate that China is interested in expanded air-to-ground capability for its future J-10 fleet, thus moving from the original concept of a tactical air defense fighter to a multirole fighter-bomber with LO features and, perhaps, to a dedicated ground attack variant. Latest Chinese reports refer to the J-10 as "Qian Shi-10" ("Attack 10") as opposed to the original name "Jian-10" ("Fighter 10"). The transition of the J-10 program from a dedicated fighter to a ground attack aircraft coincided with China's co-production of the J-11 (locally-produced Su-27), thus making the J-10 a likely replacement for the J-7/Q-5 attack planes rather than competition to the J-11.
Radar
Extent of Russian involvement in the J-10 program is significant. In addition to providing the J-10 with the Al-31FN turbojet Russia also offered advanced multifunction radars, navigation and targeting systems, ECM suite, and missile warning and defense systems. Russian avionics manufacturer Phazotron offered China three different radars for the J-10 project. These include the N010 "Zhuk" ("Beetle") and the RP-35 "Zhemchug" ("Pearls"). The "Zhuk" radar ("Zhuk-8-II") has been selected by China for the F-8IIM upgrade program. Over a hundred of these radars were recently sold to China.
"Zhuk" is a large family of X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) airborne multimode radars. The radar was originally developed for the MiG-29 tactical fighter but since then a multitude of versions have been produced for MiG-23, Su-27, F-8IIM and other aircraft. Later models of "Zhuk" offer look-up/look-down range-while-search and Track-While-Scan of 10 targets with simultaneous engagement of up to four (two targets for the "Zhuk-8-II"); vertical search; head-up display search; wide-angle search; boresight and automatic terrain avoidance for low-altitude combat operations; real beam ground-mapping; Doppler beam sharpening; synthetic aperture; display enlargement/freeze; TWS on four targets; ground target Moving Target Indicator (MTI)/tracker; air-to-surface ranging and navigation update. Weapons compatibility for "Zhuk" includes the Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E and RW-AE missiles. Later models of "Zhuk" such as the "Zhuk-F" offer detection range of up to 200km for a 5 m2 RCS targets with +/- 70 deg angular coverage and detection of 24 targets with simultaneous tracking of 8 targets. The radar weighs between 180 kg and 300 kg depending on the model.
The most likely candidate for the J-10's future radar is the Phazotron RP-35 "Zhemchug" which is an X-band radar with digital fire-control sensors and an electronically scanning phased-array antenna. The radar features a liquid-cooled traveling wave tube transmitter; an exciter; a three channel microwave receiver and programmable signal and data processors. All critical radar controls for "Zhemchug" are integrated into the aircraft's throttle grip and stick controller and radar data is displayed via the head-up and head-down displays allowing for one-man operation. This radar has an expanded air-to-ground capability and is compatible with a wide range of Russian air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
Another candidate is the Chinese version of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2035 multimode pulse Doppler fire control radar based on the original development by Elta Electronics Industries - a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries Electronics Group. This radar is used on the South African Denel (Atlas) "Cheetah" fighter - a development of the Dassault "Mirage III". The Elta EL/M-2035 radar is based on the 2021B version used by the IAI Kfir-C2 fighter. The radar offers a range of 46km for a 5 m2 RCS target, five air-to-air modes (automatic target acquisition, boresight, look-down, look-up, and track-while-scan) and two air-to-ground modes (beam-sharpened ground mapping and terrain avoidance and sea-search). Originally the Elta EL/M-2035 was developed for the "Lavi" program and after the program's cancellation the radar was offered for export.
Engine
The Lyulka-Saturn Al-31 turbojet is the main Russian engine for modern fighter aircraft. Numerous modifications of the Al-31 have been produced, including the world's first supersonic jet engine with a thrust-vectoring nozzle. Various versions of this engine are used on Su-27, Su-27SK, Su-27UBK, Su-30MKK produced for China's PLAAF, Su-30MKI produced for the Indian Air Force and other fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft. The Al-31FN - a development of the Al-31F - was created in 1992-1994 and features increased thrust, fadec control with hydraulic fuel pressure-activated back-up and significantly improved fuel economy. The Al-31FN is used on Su-32 (Su-27IB), Su-27SM (Su-35) and Su-32FN permitting these aircraft to have a maximum range of well over 4,000 km on internal fuel. The initial delivery of Al-31FN engines to China took place in 2001-2002 and numbered some 54 non-thrust-vectoring engines. China's CEC is also believed to have successfully negotiated with Russia license production of Al-31 engines. Later models of the J-10 are likely to use the thrust-vectoring version of the Al-31FN.
The Al-31-series engines proved to be reliable, relatively simple to maintain and offering great performance. Design work on the Al-31 begun in 1963 and the first prototype of the engine was tested in 1974. In 1986 a P-42 (modified Su-27 prototype) powered by two Al-31F engines set 32 time-to-height records. Recent computer simulations conducted by the US Air Force and Boeing showed that an Al-31FP-equipped Su-30MK outperformed the F-15C in a diverse range of engagements. A basic comparison of the Al-31FN (developed in 1992-1994) and the F100-PW-232 (the ultimate version of the Pratt & Whitney F100 developed in 1999-2001 and designed to be retrofitted to the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft) reveals that the Russian engine provides near-identical performance while being more than 300 kg lighter (not to mention substantially less expensive). The next generation of Russian turbofan engines - the Al-41 - offers a dramatic increase in power and reliability. The Al-41 is currently being tested on Su-47, MiG MFI and Su-32FN. The Al-41F is planned as the future engine for the LFI project.
Conclusion
The new Chinese fighter-bomber today represents little threat to the Russian share of the fighter market. Even in China the J-10 is unlikely to compete with the license-produced Su-27 or the imported Su-30MK. However, everything about the current version of the J-10 that we have seen says that it is a transitional model. Already Chengdu is moving toward a two-engine version that would incorporate LO geometry and expanded air-to-ground capability.
Looking at the striking progress of the J-10 (especially in comparison to Russia's own slow-paced development of the next-generation interceptor MFI and the attack aircraft LFS) it should be expected that the future development of the J-10 may be only 3-6 years away. And this will be the aircraft that may eventually encroach on Russia's traditional fighter export market and not just Russia's. This may happen sooner than many Russian and Western analysts believe today. For Russia the J-10 and its derivatives may be what the MiG-15 was for the West half-a-century ago: a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Russian components, American components: they are all made in Taiwan", said a Russian cosmonaut in the "Armageddon" sci-fi flick with Bruce Willis. Today China may be lacking in the avionics and engine departments but nothing prevents it from buying everything it needs from Russia, France and other eager suppliers of advanced aerospace components. You need an engine? Russia offers its best fighter turbofans at a very reasonable price. You need a radar or avionics? Russia, France and Israel will be more than happy to supply top-of-the-line equipment.
Russians had to reproduce a Rolls-Royce jet in secret and at great expense to put it on its MiG-15. Today there is no need for such extreme measures: all essential advanced components are readily available. What really matters is experience with integrating these systems to produce a fighter aircraft. The J-10 clearly shows that China is rapidly gaining this experience.
The new Chinese fighter-bomber will be a welcome addition to the PLAAF, considerably boosting the service's tactical offensive capabilities. Taiwan's Western technological edge is quickly melting away and China's military buildup inevitably leads to restoring the country's territorial integrity. The J-10 is a significant piece of this great wall being built around Taiwan.尊西门版主嘱,将俄罗斯网站评论歼十的原文及译文单独开贴,供超大兄弟们参考.
China did a good job keeping the lid on the J-10 development. Until very recently little was made public about this project. What one could find in aviation directories about the J-10 was limited to the fact that the aircraft's design was based on the Lavi - Israel's half-hearted and eventually canned attempt to develop its own "F-16." Approximate performance characteristics and physical data were extrapolated from Lavi and similar aircraft but this was about the extent of the available analysis.
The J-10 is much more than just a development of the Lavi. The new Chengdu fighter has a potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters for the next few decades. The J-10 may very well be the next MiG-21 or F-16 in terms of its potential on the international market. I find it rather surprising that the J-10 attracted relatively little attention from aerospace publications worldwide.
Aerodynamic considerations
Initial development of what later was to become the J-10 project was started in October of 1988 by the Research Institute No. 611. Initially the aircraft was to be an air superiority fighter. The 1980s saw a number of similar aircraft designs featuring a main delta-wing and canards. Some of the designs, like the Rafale, Typhoon, Kfir, and Gripen made it to active service in the past decade, while others like the Lavi only made it to flying prototypes. Some designs, like the original Russian design for the Sukhoi S-37 (not to be confused with a later forward-swept wing S-37/Su-47 'Berkut') featured what is called a compound delta-wing.
What is a delta-wing and what advantages does it offer? Simply put, a delta-wing is a triangular wing planform. The most common delta-wing combat aircraft are the Dassault Mirage fighters. The delta-wing design was first implemented by Alexander Lippich - an engineer for the Zeppelin company in Germany since 1918 - who launched his first motorized delta-wing design in 1931.
Delta-wing configuration offers two important aerodynamic qualities to a combat aircraft. The swept leading edge of a delta-wing stays ahead of the shock wave generated by the nose of the aircraft during supersonic flight making delta-wing a very efficient aerodynamic wing shape for supersonic flight. The leading edge of delta-wing also generates a massive vortex that attaches itself to the upper surface of the wing during high angle-of-attack (AOA) maneuvers resulting in very high stall points. The angle-of-attack term refers to the angle between the aircraft's velocity vector and the wing plane.
While ideal for high-altitude supersonic flight delta-wing causes increased drag at lower speeds negatively impacting aircraft's fuel efficiency and low-speed maneuverability. Originally delta-wing aircraft were designed as high-speed interceptors and bombers. As development of the delta-wing concept progressed a compound delta-wing was introduced. In this configuration a small highly swept delta wing is added in front of the main wing for reduced drag at low speeds.
In modern fighter aircraft an element of a further development of the compound wing is known as LEX - leading edge extensions. These small "wings" at the root of the leading edge of the main wing (not necessarily a delta wing anymore) remain out of airflow in cruise flight and are used during high AOA maneuvers to generate a high-speed vortex that stays attached to the top of the main wing (Bernoulli principle). This maintains low pressure zone over the upper surface of the wing generating lift beyond what would have been the stall point for a single delta-wing.
Foreplane canards of the Eurofighter Typhoon The Su-35 features a tri-plane wing configuration that features canards, the main wing and the tailplane. The early Sukhoi S-37 configuration featuring canards and a compound delta wing
Modern fighter aircraft feature various combinations of canards, tailplanes and compound wings. Modern Russian aircraft like the Su-35 have a tri-plane configuration with all three of these elements present. Others, like the MiG MFI have a classic delta wing with the canards. The canard surface, unlike a conventional tailplane which it replaces in delta wing designs, generates positive lift. During high AOA maneuvers the canard surfaces stalls first. This causes the nose of the aircraft to pitch down and prevents the main wing from stalling - a very valuable feature for a fighter aircraft.
At the same time the canard surface creates a downwash which degrade the main wing's performance. Canards also make it very difficult to apply flaps: normally, extending flaps causes a downward movement of the nose, which is compensated by the tailplane. However, most airframe design involving canards do not have a tailplane and have thing to compensate for the effect of the flaps. Therefore, many designs involving canards have no flaps. There are some exceptions like the late-model Su-27-family fighters that have canards and the tailplane.
The delta-wing has another quality significant for a fighter aircraft: this wing profile offers increased survivability by having increased structural and airflow stability. From a financial point of view, a delta-wing is also cheaper to manufacture, which is not the last reason why you see this type of a wing on export-oriented aircraft like Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen. As it turned out the J-10 we see today has little in common with the Israeli 'Lavi'. The form of the delta wing has changed, the air intake is different, the shape of the nose section is different, the different shape and position of the canards, etc. The J-10 features a simple delta wing with relatively large movable canards. The nose section, the canards and the air intake look similar to those of MiG1.41.
The J-10 has a substantially more powerful engine than any other modern delta wing fighter in service. While the combined thrust of two-engine fighters like Rafale and Typhoon exceed that of a single Al-31FN, the J-10 is lighter and should have an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio.
In the recently-released photos of the J-10 the aircraft is seen with three external fuel tanks with at least 4,000kg total external fuel capacity.
History of Development
By 1993 the Chinese designers have constructed the first all-metal mockup of the J-10. Wind tunnel testing revealed potential problems with low-speed performance and less-than-expected maximum AOA at subsonic speeds. At the same time the main trend in fighter aircraft development was a transition from single-purpose fighters such as high-speed interceptor or low-altitude dogfighters to multirole aircraft combining good subsonic and supersonic air-to-air performance with extensive air-to-ground capabilities. Added requirements for air-to-ground operations called for an in-depth redesign of the J-10 to accommodate terrain-following radar, more and sturdier hardpoints, an entirely new targeting, flight control and navigation systems.
At the end of 1995 Russian involvement in the J-10 program was confirmed when it was announced that a first J-10 flight is expected in early 1996 with Russian-made Al-31FN turbofan engine. Runway tests took longer than expected while the designers tweaked the control systems of the first J-10 "1001" prototype. The first "official" flight took place on March 28, 1998, and was largely successful. However, the first actual flight of the J-10 might have taken place two years earlier - in mid-1996 - but suffered from an engine malfunction with unknown consequences. In late 1997 the second flying J-10 "1002" prototype was lost in a crash which also killed the chief test pilot. Nevertheless, the J-10 program continued as scheduled and two more prototypes - the "1003" and "1004" - were completed by the end of 1998. The same year the aircraft received its official service designation "J-10”.
The J-10 manufacturing, flight testing and service evaluation programs continued at a pace not seen in the world of combat aviation since the end of the Cold War. By mid-1999 China already had six prototypes: four of them used for flight testing two were used for static tests. By late 2000 nine J-10 prototypes were produced and the flying models accumulated over 140 flight hours. The first flight of the pre-production model took place on June 28, 2002, by which time China already had at least 10 of these aircraft. In early 2003 ten J-10s were deployed to Nanjing Military Region for training and operational evaluation. A photo released in 2003 shows a pair of J-10s in flight with numbers "1015" and "1016" indicating that at least 16 J-10s were built so far.
Also in 2003 China begun construction of two two-seat versions of the J-10 for training and air-to-ground roles. At the same time Chengdu (CAC) and the Research Institute No. 611 completed preliminary designs for two new versions of the J-10 featuring a single and twin engines and LO geometry. The new designs also feature a nose section angled downward for improved air-to-ground performance of the aircraft.
These latest additions in the J-10 design - the construction of the two-seater versions and the study of a stealthy version with angled nose section - indicate that China is interested in expanded air-to-ground capability for its future J-10 fleet, thus moving from the original concept of a tactical air defense fighter to a multirole fighter-bomber with LO features and, perhaps, to a dedicated ground attack variant. Latest Chinese reports refer to the J-10 as "Qian Shi-10" ("Attack 10") as opposed to the original name "Jian-10" ("Fighter 10"). The transition of the J-10 program from a dedicated fighter to a ground attack aircraft coincided with China's co-production of the J-11 (locally-produced Su-27), thus making the J-10 a likely replacement for the J-7/Q-5 attack planes rather than competition to the J-11.
Radar
Extent of Russian involvement in the J-10 program is significant. In addition to providing the J-10 with the Al-31FN turbojet Russia also offered advanced multifunction radars, navigation and targeting systems, ECM suite, and missile warning and defense systems. Russian avionics manufacturer Phazotron offered China three different radars for the J-10 project. These include the N010 "Zhuk" ("Beetle") and the RP-35 "Zhemchug" ("Pearls"). The "Zhuk" radar ("Zhuk-8-II") has been selected by China for the F-8IIM upgrade program. Over a hundred of these radars were recently sold to China.
"Zhuk" is a large family of X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) airborne multimode radars. The radar was originally developed for the MiG-29 tactical fighter but since then a multitude of versions have been produced for MiG-23, Su-27, F-8IIM and other aircraft. Later models of "Zhuk" offer look-up/look-down range-while-search and Track-While-Scan of 10 targets with simultaneous engagement of up to four (two targets for the "Zhuk-8-II"); vertical search; head-up display search; wide-angle search; boresight and automatic terrain avoidance for low-altitude combat operations; real beam ground-mapping; Doppler beam sharpening; synthetic aperture; display enlargement/freeze; TWS on four targets; ground target Moving Target Indicator (MTI)/tracker; air-to-surface ranging and navigation update. Weapons compatibility for "Zhuk" includes the Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E and RW-AE missiles. Later models of "Zhuk" such as the "Zhuk-F" offer detection range of up to 200km for a 5 m2 RCS targets with +/- 70 deg angular coverage and detection of 24 targets with simultaneous tracking of 8 targets. The radar weighs between 180 kg and 300 kg depending on the model.
The most likely candidate for the J-10's future radar is the Phazotron RP-35 "Zhemchug" which is an X-band radar with digital fire-control sensors and an electronically scanning phased-array antenna. The radar features a liquid-cooled traveling wave tube transmitter; an exciter; a three channel microwave receiver and programmable signal and data processors. All critical radar controls for "Zhemchug" are integrated into the aircraft's throttle grip and stick controller and radar data is displayed via the head-up and head-down displays allowing for one-man operation. This radar has an expanded air-to-ground capability and is compatible with a wide range of Russian air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
Another candidate is the Chinese version of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2035 multimode pulse Doppler fire control radar based on the original development by Elta Electronics Industries - a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries Electronics Group. This radar is used on the South African Denel (Atlas) "Cheetah" fighter - a development of the Dassault "Mirage III". The Elta EL/M-2035 radar is based on the 2021B version used by the IAI Kfir-C2 fighter. The radar offers a range of 46km for a 5 m2 RCS target, five air-to-air modes (automatic target acquisition, boresight, look-down, look-up, and track-while-scan) and two air-to-ground modes (beam-sharpened ground mapping and terrain avoidance and sea-search). Originally the Elta EL/M-2035 was developed for the "Lavi" program and after the program's cancellation the radar was offered for export.
Engine
The Lyulka-Saturn Al-31 turbojet is the main Russian engine for modern fighter aircraft. Numerous modifications of the Al-31 have been produced, including the world's first supersonic jet engine with a thrust-vectoring nozzle. Various versions of this engine are used on Su-27, Su-27SK, Su-27UBK, Su-30MKK produced for China's PLAAF, Su-30MKI produced for the Indian Air Force and other fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft. The Al-31FN - a development of the Al-31F - was created in 1992-1994 and features increased thrust, fadec control with hydraulic fuel pressure-activated back-up and significantly improved fuel economy. The Al-31FN is used on Su-32 (Su-27IB), Su-27SM (Su-35) and Su-32FN permitting these aircraft to have a maximum range of well over 4,000 km on internal fuel. The initial delivery of Al-31FN engines to China took place in 2001-2002 and numbered some 54 non-thrust-vectoring engines. China's CEC is also believed to have successfully negotiated with Russia license production of Al-31 engines. Later models of the J-10 are likely to use the thrust-vectoring version of the Al-31FN.
The Al-31-series engines proved to be reliable, relatively simple to maintain and offering great performance. Design work on the Al-31 begun in 1963 and the first prototype of the engine was tested in 1974. In 1986 a P-42 (modified Su-27 prototype) powered by two Al-31F engines set 32 time-to-height records. Recent computer simulations conducted by the US Air Force and Boeing showed that an Al-31FP-equipped Su-30MK outperformed the F-15C in a diverse range of engagements. A basic comparison of the Al-31FN (developed in 1992-1994) and the F100-PW-232 (the ultimate version of the Pratt & Whitney F100 developed in 1999-2001 and designed to be retrofitted to the F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft) reveals that the Russian engine provides near-identical performance while being more than 300 kg lighter (not to mention substantially less expensive). The next generation of Russian turbofan engines - the Al-41 - offers a dramatic increase in power and reliability. The Al-41 is currently being tested on Su-47, MiG MFI and Su-32FN. The Al-41F is planned as the future engine for the LFI project.
Conclusion
The new Chinese fighter-bomber today represents little threat to the Russian share of the fighter market. Even in China the J-10 is unlikely to compete with the license-produced Su-27 or the imported Su-30MK. However, everything about the current version of the J-10 that we have seen says that it is a transitional model. Already Chengdu is moving toward a two-engine version that would incorporate LO geometry and expanded air-to-ground capability.
Looking at the striking progress of the J-10 (especially in comparison to Russia's own slow-paced development of the next-generation interceptor MFI and the attack aircraft LFS) it should be expected that the future development of the J-10 may be only 3-6 years away. And this will be the aircraft that may eventually encroach on Russia's traditional fighter export market and not just Russia's. This may happen sooner than many Russian and Western analysts believe today. For Russia the J-10 and its derivatives may be what the MiG-15 was for the West half-a-century ago: a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Russian components, American components: they are all made in Taiwan", said a Russian cosmonaut in the "Armageddon" sci-fi flick with Bruce Willis. Today China may be lacking in the avionics and engine departments but nothing prevents it from buying everything it needs from Russia, France and other eager suppliers of advanced aerospace components. You need an engine? Russia offers its best fighter turbofans at a very reasonable price. You need a radar or avionics? Russia, France and Israel will be more than happy to supply top-of-the-line equipment.
Russians had to reproduce a Rolls-Royce jet in secret and at great expense to put it on its MiG-15. Today there is no need for such extreme measures: all essential advanced components are readily available. What really matters is experience with integrating these systems to produce a fighter aircraft. The J-10 clearly shows that China is rapidly gaining this experience.
The new Chinese fighter-bomber will be a welcome addition to the PLAAF, considerably boosting the service's tactical offensive capabilities. Taiwan's Western technological edge is quickly melting away and China's military buildup inevitably leads to restoring the country's territorial integrity. The J-10 is a significant piece of this great wall being built around Taiwan.
中国在研发J10过程中的保密工作做得很好。直到最近，公众才对此项目略有所知。我们能在各类航空资料里查到的有关J10的内容仅限于，这种飞机是在狮式战斗机的基础上设计的（后者是以色列人半途而废的研发自已的“F16”的尝试）。该机的性能特点和外形资料是根据狮式和其它类似飞机推测出来的，而可信的分析也仅限于此。
但J10远不只是狮式的改进型。成都的这种新型战斗机有潜力成为今后几十年最有意义的战斗机之一。J10在国际市场上的潜力使之有可能成为又一种像米格21和F16那样的战斗机。让我感到奇怪的是，为什么世界航空出版界对J10的关注相对较少。
J10项目的早期发展是611研究所在1988年10月开始进行的。一开始就是要设计一种空中优势战斗机。在上世纪八十年代，我们可以看到许多飞机的设计特点是采用了三角型主翼和一对鸭式前翼。有些设计，如阵风、台风、幼狮和鹰狮已在十年前投入现役，而其它像狮式等一些型号只达到原型试飞的地步。有些设计，如俄国最早的S37（千万别与后来的前掠翼S-37/Su-47金雕搞混了）则采取了所谓的复合三角翼。
气动布局
什么叫三角翼？它能带来什么优点？简单地说，三角翼就是三角型的翼面。最常见的三角翼飞机是达索生产的幻影战斗机。第一个采用三角翼设计的是亚历山大 里佩希，他从1918年起在德国齐伯林公司担任工程师，他设计的动力三角翼于1931年首飞。
三角翼造型给作战飞机带来两种重要气动品质。在超音速飞行中，机鼻形成的冲击波到达三角翼的大后掠前缘时，会使三角翼产生非常高的气动效率。在大攻角飞行时，三角翼的前沿还能产生大量涡流，附着在上翼面，能提高升力。攻角这个术语是指飞机的前进方向与机翼之间的夹角。
虽然三角翼在高空超音速飞行时非常理想，但在低速机动时却成了累赘，它给飞机油耗和低速机动性带来不利影响。三角翼原来就是为高速的截击机和轰炸机设计的。随着三角翼概念的发展，产生出一种复合三角翼。这种外形是在主翼前加上大倾角的三角翼，以减少在低速时的劣势。
在现代战斗机中，就有一种从复合翼发展出来的结构，叫作LEX（边条翼）。这种小“翼”在安装在主翼（这时不一定非是三角翼哟）的前缘根部，它在巡航飞行时保持突出状态，用于在大攻角飞行时产生出附着于主翼面上的高速涡流（贝奴利定理）。这就使翼面上方出现低压区，它能带来额外的升力，与纯三角翼能带来的是一样的。
欧洲的台风式战斗机采用了鸭式前翼。而苏35则采用了三翼面布局，包括鸭翼、主翼和水平尾翼。苏霍伊公司最初的S-37采用的是鸭翼加复合三角翼。
现代战斗机采用的是各种鸭翼、尾翼和复合翼的组合。现代俄国飞机，如苏35，采用了三翼面布局，其中三种翼型特点都有。其它飞机，像米格MFI，则采用典型的带鸭翼的典型三角翼。与三角翼所取代的常规布局中的尾翼不同，这种鸭翼是能产生正升力的。在做高攻角机动时，鸭翼面会首先失速。这就使机鼻下压，从面避免主翼失速——对于战斗机来说，这是一种非常有价值的性特。
与此同时，鸭翼面产生下洗气流，它使主翼效率下降。鸭翼也很难做成可动式的：正常情况下，多余的翼动会使机鼻产生向下运动，这尾翼上获得了抵消。然面，多数采用鸭翼设计的飞机没有尾翼，没什么能抵消掉鸭翼的动作。因此，许多带鸭翼设计的飞机是不可动的。也有些例外，如最新型号的苏27系列战斗机即有鸭翼也有尾翼。
三角翼还有另一种对战斗机很有意义的特点：这种翼形因加强了结构和气动稳定性，从而提高了生存力。从资金的角度看，三角翼的生产起来很便宜，这就是为什么你在台风、阵风和鹰狮这样的出口型飞机上看到这种翼型的重要原因之一。我们今天看到的制造出来的歼十与以色列的狮式没多少共同点。三角翼的形状改变了，进气道不一样，机鼻部分的造型不同，鸭翼的外形和位置不一样，等等。歼十的特点是纯三角翼加相对较大的可动式鸭翼。机鼻部分、鸭翼和进气道看上去更像米格1.41的上述部分。
歼十有一台比现役的任何现代三角翼战斗机都更强劲的发动机。虽然阵风和台风这样的双发动机战斗机的推力比单台Al-31FN发动机的歼十更强劲，但歼十更轻小，推重比理应十分出色。
从最近披露的照片看，歼十看上去挂载了三个外部油箱，其外挂燃油重量至少达4000公斤。
发展历程
大约在1993年，中国设计师们制造出歼十的第一个全金属模型。风洞试验暴露出低速机动性方面存在严重问题，亚音速飞行时的最大攻角也比预计的小。而在这个时期，战斗机发展的主流从单一用途（如高速截击机或低空战斗机）向着结合了亚音速和超音速空空作战性能及高强度空对地作战性能的多用途飞机发展。为了适应高强度的空对地作战要求，歼十被迫进行了深层次的重新设计，以便能够容纳地形跟踪雷达、更多更坚固的外挂点以及一种全新的目标锁定、飞行控制和导航系统。
1995年末，当宣布第一架采用俄制Al-31FN涡扇发动机的歼十战斗机将会在1996年试飞时，俄国参与歼十计划得到了证实。跑道试验比预计的时间长，因为设计人员要在歼十“1001”号原型机上安装控制系统。第一次“官方”首飞是在1998年3月28日进行的，取得了巨大的成功。然而，歼十第一次真正的首飞可能性是在两年前，即1996年年中进行的，但一台发动机出现故障，造成的后果不得而知。1997年末，歼十第“1002”号原型机因坠毁而损失掉了，酿成首席试飞员殉职。然而，歼十项目继续按预订计划进行，另两架原型机“1003”和“1004”于1998年建造完成。同年，这种飞机获得了它的正式服役编号“歼十”。
歼十的制造、试飞和服役评估计划以一种冷战结束后世界战机界前所未有的速度继续推进。1999年中，中国已拥有6架原型机：其中4架用于试飞，另两架用于静力试验。截止2000年晚些时候，已制造了9架歼十原型机，试飞时数超过140小时。预生产型号的首飞是在2002年6月28日进行的，此时中国已拥有至少10架这种飞机。2003年初，10架歼十部署到南京军区进行训练和作战评估。2003年披露的一张照片显示，两架飞行中的歼十编号分别为“1015”和“1016”，表明早就制造了至少16架歼十。
还是在2003年，中国开始制造两架双座型歼十，用于训练和空对地攻击。同时，成都飞机制造公司和611所完成了两种新款的歼十的前期设计，其特点是一个单发，一个双发，低反射率的几何造形。新设计还拥有一个棱角状低垂的机鼻，以改进飞机的空对地攻击性能。
这些最新出现的歼十设计、双座型的建造和棱角状机鼻的隐身型探索表明，中国对增加未来歼十机群的空对地攻击能力很感兴趣，这就让这种原先战术防空战斗机转变成一种低可探测性的多用途战斗轰炸机，也许还会发展成一种专用于对地攻击的变种。中方最新报告中把歼十称为“强十”，这与其原来的名字“歼十”南辕北辙。歼十项目从专业战斗机到对地攻击机的转变与中国合资生产歼十一（国产苏27）同时进行，这就使歼十更可能替代歼七/强五对地攻击机，而不是与歼十一进行竞争。
雷达
俄国在相当程度上参与了歼十项目。除了为歼十提供Al-31FN涡扇发动机外，俄国还提供了先进的多功能雷达、导航及目标锁定系统、ECM套件和导弹预警与防御系统。俄国的航空设备制造公司费佐顿为歼十项目向中国提供了3种不同类型的雷达。其中包括N010 "祖克" ("甲虫")雷达和RP-35 "祖冲" ("珍珠")雷达. 中国已选择"祖克"雷达 ("Zhuk-8-II")用于歼8IIM升级项目。最近已有超过一百部这种雷达销往中国。
“祖克”是一种X波段（12.5GHZ）航空用多功能雷达。这种雷达最早是为米格29战术战斗机研制的，但此后又为米格23、苏27、歼八IIM和其它飞机发展出众多的型号。较新式的“祖克”的特点是：上视/下视警戒-搜索和追踪-扫瞄10个目标并同时与多达4个目标接战（祖克8II为接战2个目标）；垂直搜索；抬头式搜索显示屏；大视场搜索；低空作战用的自动地形回避功能；地形测绘实时传送；多普勒波束锐化技术；合成孔径技术；图像放大和冻结功能；同时跟踪处理4个目标；地面移动目标指示/追踪仪；升级了的空对地搜索和导航系统。“祖克”雷达可以兼容的武器包括：Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E和RW-AE导弹。新式型号的“祖克”雷达，比如“祖克F”型，可在200公里外探测到雷达反射面积为5平方米的目标，探测范围为正负70度，能跟踪24个目标并攻击其中的8个目标。根据型号不同，雷达重量在180公斤至300公斤之间。
最有可能成为歼十未来雷达的候选者是费佐顿公司的RP-35“祖冲”雷达，这是一种带数字化火控传感器和相控阵电子扫瞄天线的X波段雷达。它有一个液体制冷的行波管发射机，一个激励放大器，一个有三个频道的微波接收机和一个可编程的信号及数据处理机。“祖冲”雷达的关键控制部分都被整合到飞机的油门开关和操纵杆上，雷达数据则显示在上视和下视显示屏上，以便于单人作战。该型雷达增强了空对地性能，并能兼容种类广泛的俄制空对空和空对地弹药。
另一种候选雷达是以色列Elta EL/M-2035脉冲多普勒火控雷达的中国版，它是在以色列飞机工业电子集团所属的Elta电子工业公司的原型基础上发展出来的。这种原型用于南非Denel (Atlas)公司的“印度豹”式战斗机（这是达索公司的幻影III的发展型）。Elta EL/M-2035雷达是在以色列飞机公司生产的幼狮C2型战斗机所使用的2021B型雷达基础上发展出来的。它能在46公里外探测到雷达反射面积为5平米的目标，有5种空对空作战模式（自动目标搜索、窄视、下视、上视和跟踪加扫瞄）。Elta EL/M-2035原来是为狮式项目研发的，在项目取消后用于出口。
发动机
留里卡-土星公司的Al-31涡轮风扇发动机是俄国现代战机的主力发动机。Al-31各种改进型号已生产出来，其中包括世界上第一台带推力矢量喷口的超音速喷气发动机。这种发动机的各种版本已在Su-27、 Su-27SK、 Su-27UBK、为中国人民解放军空军生产的 Su-30MKK、为印度空军生产的Su-30MKI以及其它战斗机和战斗轰炸机上采用。从Al-31F发展而来的Al-31FN诞生于1992至1994年间，它是一种后燃加力式发动机，燃油经济性大为提高。Al-31FN用在Su-32 (Su-27IB)、 Su-27SM (Su-35)和Su-32FN上面，使得这些飞机使用内部油箱时的最大航程大大超过4000公里。首批出售中国的Al-31FN是在2001至2002年间交货的，共有54台非推力矢量发动机。据信，中国的CEC公司已通过谈判成功地从俄国取得了生产Al-31发动机的许可证。较晚型号的歼十很可能使用Al-31FN的带推力矢量版本的发动机。
Al-31系列发动机已被证明是一种可靠的、比较容易保养的和性能出众的发动机。Al-31的设计工作始于1963年，第一台原型发动机于1974年试车。1986年，一架装了两台Al-31F发动机的P-42飞机（Su-27原型机的改型）创造了32项时间-高度纪录。最近，美国空军和波音公司所做的计算机模拟对抗显示，装有Al-31FP发动机的Su-30MK在各种接战距离上都胜过了F-15C。把Al-31FN（1992至1994年研制）和F100-PW-232（普惠公司1999至2001年研发的F100发动机的最新版，用于改进F-15和F-16战斗机）做一个简单比较，就可以看出，俄国发动机在提供了几乎同样的性能的同时，重量上轻了300公斤（这还没算价钱上大大便宜）。俄国的下一代涡扇发动机Al-41在推力和可靠性方面都取得了更大的进步。Al-41目前正装在Su-47、米格MFI和 Su-32FN上进行测试。Al-41F计划成为未来LFI战机项目的发动机。
总结
中国的新型战斗轰炸机今天在分享战机市场方面对俄国构成的威胁不大。甚至在中国国内，歼十也不大会对受许可生产的Su-27和进口的Su-30MK形成竞争。然而，我们能在歼十的当前型号上看到的一切都说明，它只是一种过渡型号。成都已在研发一种结合了隐身外形和强大对地功能的双发战斗机。
看看歼十计划的惊人成就（特别是再对比一下俄国自己的下一代截击机MFI和攻击机LFS的缓慢进展），可以预计歼十的未来发展只需3至6年时间。届时它就会最终成为吞食俄国甚至其它国家的传统战机出口市场的那种战机了。这种情形可能会比俄国及西方分析家们今天预期得来得更早。就像半世纪前西方人眼中的米格15一样，对于俄国来说，歼十及其改进型可能带来一种并不令人愉快的惊诧。
“俄国设备也好，美国设备也好，一切都是台湾生产的。”在布鲁斯·威尔斯主演的科幻电影“末日之战”中，一位俄国宇航员如此报怨。今天，也许中国缺乏航空电子和发动机技术部件，但他们可以毫无阻碍地从俄国、法国和其它热情的先进航空航天设备供应商那里买到他们所需要的一切。你需要一台发动机吗？俄国以一种非常合理的价钱提供它最好的战斗机用涡扇发动机。你需要一部雷达或是航空电子设备吗？俄国、法国和以色列将非常乐意提供最尖端的设备。
想当年，俄国人曾被迫以高贵的代价偷偷仿制一种罗斯莱斯喷气发动机，以安装到它的米格15上去。今天，再也不采取这种极端的手法了——一切尖端的先进设备都可以买到。真正重要的是，要有如何把这些部件整合成一架战斗机的经验。歼十清楚地表明，中国正在迅速掌握这种经验。
中国人的这种新型战斗轰炸机的服役将会受到中国人民解放军空军的热烈欢迎，因为它在相当程度上增强了空军的战术攻击能力。台湾西方技术上的缓慢进展很快就会被消融得干干净净，而中国军力的壮大将使国家领土的统一成为不可避免的趋势。在包围台湾的长城上，歼十正是一块具有重要意义的砖石。
但J10远不只是狮式的改进型。成都的这种新型战斗机有潜力成为今后几十年最有意义的战斗机之一。J10在国际市场上的潜力使之有可能成为又一种像米格21和F16那样的战斗机。让我感到奇怪的是，为什么世界航空出版界对J10的关注相对较少。
J10项目的早期发展是611研究所在1988年10月开始进行的。一开始就是要设计一种空中优势战斗机。在上世纪八十年代，我们可以看到许多飞机的设计特点是采用了三角型主翼和一对鸭式前翼。有些设计，如阵风、台风、幼狮和鹰狮已在十年前投入现役，而其它像狮式等一些型号只达到原型试飞的地步。有些设计，如俄国最早的S37（千万别与后来的前掠翼S-37/Su-47金雕搞混了）则采取了所谓的复合三角翼。
气动布局
什么叫三角翼？它能带来什么优点？简单地说，三角翼就是三角型的翼面。最常见的三角翼飞机是达索生产的幻影战斗机。第一个采用三角翼设计的是亚历山大 里佩希，他从1918年起在德国齐伯林公司担任工程师，他设计的动力三角翼于1931年首飞。
三角翼造型给作战飞机带来两种重要气动品质。在超音速飞行中，机鼻形成的冲击波到达三角翼的大后掠前缘时，会使三角翼产生非常高的气动效率。在大攻角飞行时，三角翼的前沿还能产生大量涡流，附着在上翼面，能提高升力。攻角这个术语是指飞机的前进方向与机翼之间的夹角。
虽然三角翼在高空超音速飞行时非常理想，但在低速机动时却成了累赘，它给飞机油耗和低速机动性带来不利影响。三角翼原来就是为高速的截击机和轰炸机设计的。随着三角翼概念的发展，产生出一种复合三角翼。这种外形是在主翼前加上大倾角的三角翼，以减少在低速时的劣势。
在现代战斗机中，就有一种从复合翼发展出来的结构，叫作LEX（边条翼）。这种小“翼”在安装在主翼（这时不一定非是三角翼哟）的前缘根部，它在巡航飞行时保持突出状态，用于在大攻角飞行时产生出附着于主翼面上的高速涡流（贝奴利定理）。这就使翼面上方出现低压区，它能带来额外的升力，与纯三角翼能带来的是一样的。
欧洲的台风式战斗机采用了鸭式前翼。而苏35则采用了三翼面布局，包括鸭翼、主翼和水平尾翼。苏霍伊公司最初的S-37采用的是鸭翼加复合三角翼。
现代战斗机采用的是各种鸭翼、尾翼和复合翼的组合。现代俄国飞机，如苏35，采用了三翼面布局，其中三种翼型特点都有。其它飞机，像米格MFI，则采用典型的带鸭翼的典型三角翼。与三角翼所取代的常规布局中的尾翼不同，这种鸭翼是能产生正升力的。在做高攻角机动时，鸭翼面会首先失速。这就使机鼻下压，从面避免主翼失速——对于战斗机来说，这是一种非常有价值的性特。
与此同时，鸭翼面产生下洗气流，它使主翼效率下降。鸭翼也很难做成可动式的：正常情况下，多余的翼动会使机鼻产生向下运动，这尾翼上获得了抵消。然面，多数采用鸭翼设计的飞机没有尾翼，没什么能抵消掉鸭翼的动作。因此，许多带鸭翼设计的飞机是不可动的。也有些例外，如最新型号的苏27系列战斗机即有鸭翼也有尾翼。
三角翼还有另一种对战斗机很有意义的特点：这种翼形因加强了结构和气动稳定性，从而提高了生存力。从资金的角度看，三角翼的生产起来很便宜，这就是为什么你在台风、阵风和鹰狮这样的出口型飞机上看到这种翼型的重要原因之一。我们今天看到的制造出来的歼十与以色列的狮式没多少共同点。三角翼的形状改变了，进气道不一样，机鼻部分的造型不同，鸭翼的外形和位置不一样，等等。歼十的特点是纯三角翼加相对较大的可动式鸭翼。机鼻部分、鸭翼和进气道看上去更像米格1.41的上述部分。
歼十有一台比现役的任何现代三角翼战斗机都更强劲的发动机。虽然阵风和台风这样的双发动机战斗机的推力比单台Al-31FN发动机的歼十更强劲，但歼十更轻小，推重比理应十分出色。
从最近披露的照片看，歼十看上去挂载了三个外部油箱，其外挂燃油重量至少达4000公斤。
发展历程
大约在1993年，中国设计师们制造出歼十的第一个全金属模型。风洞试验暴露出低速机动性方面存在严重问题，亚音速飞行时的最大攻角也比预计的小。而在这个时期，战斗机发展的主流从单一用途（如高速截击机或低空战斗机）向着结合了亚音速和超音速空空作战性能及高强度空对地作战性能的多用途飞机发展。为了适应高强度的空对地作战要求，歼十被迫进行了深层次的重新设计，以便能够容纳地形跟踪雷达、更多更坚固的外挂点以及一种全新的目标锁定、飞行控制和导航系统。
1995年末，当宣布第一架采用俄制Al-31FN涡扇发动机的歼十战斗机将会在1996年试飞时，俄国参与歼十计划得到了证实。跑道试验比预计的时间长，因为设计人员要在歼十“1001”号原型机上安装控制系统。第一次“官方”首飞是在1998年3月28日进行的，取得了巨大的成功。然而，歼十第一次真正的首飞可能性是在两年前，即1996年年中进行的，但一台发动机出现故障，造成的后果不得而知。1997年末，歼十第“1002”号原型机因坠毁而损失掉了，酿成首席试飞员殉职。然而，歼十项目继续按预订计划进行，另两架原型机“1003”和“1004”于1998年建造完成。同年，这种飞机获得了它的正式服役编号“歼十”。
歼十的制造、试飞和服役评估计划以一种冷战结束后世界战机界前所未有的速度继续推进。1999年中，中国已拥有6架原型机：其中4架用于试飞，另两架用于静力试验。截止2000年晚些时候，已制造了9架歼十原型机，试飞时数超过140小时。预生产型号的首飞是在2002年6月28日进行的，此时中国已拥有至少10架这种飞机。2003年初，10架歼十部署到南京军区进行训练和作战评估。2003年披露的一张照片显示，两架飞行中的歼十编号分别为“1015”和“1016”，表明早就制造了至少16架歼十。
还是在2003年，中国开始制造两架双座型歼十，用于训练和空对地攻击。同时，成都飞机制造公司和611所完成了两种新款的歼十的前期设计，其特点是一个单发，一个双发，低反射率的几何造形。新设计还拥有一个棱角状低垂的机鼻，以改进飞机的空对地攻击性能。
这些最新出现的歼十设计、双座型的建造和棱角状机鼻的隐身型探索表明，中国对增加未来歼十机群的空对地攻击能力很感兴趣，这就让这种原先战术防空战斗机转变成一种低可探测性的多用途战斗轰炸机，也许还会发展成一种专用于对地攻击的变种。中方最新报告中把歼十称为“强十”，这与其原来的名字“歼十”南辕北辙。歼十项目从专业战斗机到对地攻击机的转变与中国合资生产歼十一（国产苏27）同时进行，这就使歼十更可能替代歼七/强五对地攻击机，而不是与歼十一进行竞争。
雷达
俄国在相当程度上参与了歼十项目。除了为歼十提供Al-31FN涡扇发动机外，俄国还提供了先进的多功能雷达、导航及目标锁定系统、ECM套件和导弹预警与防御系统。俄国的航空设备制造公司费佐顿为歼十项目向中国提供了3种不同类型的雷达。其中包括N010 "祖克" ("甲虫")雷达和RP-35 "祖冲" ("珍珠")雷达. 中国已选择"祖克"雷达 ("Zhuk-8-II")用于歼8IIM升级项目。最近已有超过一百部这种雷达销往中国。
“祖克”是一种X波段（12.5GHZ）航空用多功能雷达。这种雷达最早是为米格29战术战斗机研制的，但此后又为米格23、苏27、歼八IIM和其它飞机发展出众多的型号。较新式的“祖克”的特点是：上视/下视警戒-搜索和追踪-扫瞄10个目标并同时与多达4个目标接战（祖克8II为接战2个目标）；垂直搜索；抬头式搜索显示屏；大视场搜索；低空作战用的自动地形回避功能；地形测绘实时传送；多普勒波束锐化技术；合成孔径技术；图像放大和冻结功能；同时跟踪处理4个目标；地面移动目标指示/追踪仪；升级了的空对地搜索和导航系统。“祖克”雷达可以兼容的武器包括：Kh-31A, R-27R1, R-27T1, R-37E和RW-AE导弹。新式型号的“祖克”雷达，比如“祖克F”型，可在200公里外探测到雷达反射面积为5平方米的目标，探测范围为正负70度，能跟踪24个目标并攻击其中的8个目标。根据型号不同，雷达重量在180公斤至300公斤之间。
最有可能成为歼十未来雷达的候选者是费佐顿公司的RP-35“祖冲”雷达，这是一种带数字化火控传感器和相控阵电子扫瞄天线的X波段雷达。它有一个液体制冷的行波管发射机，一个激励放大器，一个有三个频道的微波接收机和一个可编程的信号及数据处理机。“祖冲”雷达的关键控制部分都被整合到飞机的油门开关和操纵杆上，雷达数据则显示在上视和下视显示屏上，以便于单人作战。该型雷达增强了空对地性能，并能兼容种类广泛的俄制空对空和空对地弹药。
另一种候选雷达是以色列Elta EL/M-2035脉冲多普勒火控雷达的中国版，它是在以色列飞机工业电子集团所属的Elta电子工业公司的原型基础上发展出来的。这种原型用于南非Denel (Atlas)公司的“印度豹”式战斗机（这是达索公司的幻影III的发展型）。Elta EL/M-2035雷达是在以色列飞机公司生产的幼狮C2型战斗机所使用的2021B型雷达基础上发展出来的。它能在46公里外探测到雷达反射面积为5平米的目标，有5种空对空作战模式（自动目标搜索、窄视、下视、上视和跟踪加扫瞄）。Elta EL/M-2035原来是为狮式项目研发的，在项目取消后用于出口。
发动机
留里卡-土星公司的Al-31涡轮风扇发动机是俄国现代战机的主力发动机。Al-31各种改进型号已生产出来，其中包括世界上第一台带推力矢量喷口的超音速喷气发动机。这种发动机的各种版本已在Su-27、 Su-27SK、 Su-27UBK、为中国人民解放军空军生产的 Su-30MKK、为印度空军生产的Su-30MKI以及其它战斗机和战斗轰炸机上采用。从Al-31F发展而来的Al-31FN诞生于1992至1994年间，它是一种后燃加力式发动机，燃油经济性大为提高。Al-31FN用在Su-32 (Su-27IB)、 Su-27SM (Su-35)和Su-32FN上面，使得这些飞机使用内部油箱时的最大航程大大超过4000公里。首批出售中国的Al-31FN是在2001至2002年间交货的，共有54台非推力矢量发动机。据信，中国的CEC公司已通过谈判成功地从俄国取得了生产Al-31发动机的许可证。较晚型号的歼十很可能使用Al-31FN的带推力矢量版本的发动机。
Al-31系列发动机已被证明是一种可靠的、比较容易保养的和性能出众的发动机。Al-31的设计工作始于1963年，第一台原型发动机于1974年试车。1986年，一架装了两台Al-31F发动机的P-42飞机（Su-27原型机的改型）创造了32项时间-高度纪录。最近，美国空军和波音公司所做的计算机模拟对抗显示，装有Al-31FP发动机的Su-30MK在各种接战距离上都胜过了F-15C。把Al-31FN（1992至1994年研制）和F100-PW-232（普惠公司1999至2001年研发的F100发动机的最新版，用于改进F-15和F-16战斗机）做一个简单比较，就可以看出，俄国发动机在提供了几乎同样的性能的同时，重量上轻了300公斤（这还没算价钱上大大便宜）。俄国的下一代涡扇发动机Al-41在推力和可靠性方面都取得了更大的进步。Al-41目前正装在Su-47、米格MFI和 Su-32FN上进行测试。Al-41F计划成为未来LFI战机项目的发动机。
总结
中国的新型战斗轰炸机今天在分享战机市场方面对俄国构成的威胁不大。甚至在中国国内，歼十也不大会对受许可生产的Su-27和进口的Su-30MK形成竞争。然而，我们能在歼十的当前型号上看到的一切都说明，它只是一种过渡型号。成都已在研发一种结合了隐身外形和强大对地功能的双发战斗机。
看看歼十计划的惊人成就（特别是再对比一下俄国自己的下一代截击机MFI和攻击机LFS的缓慢进展），可以预计歼十的未来发展只需3至6年时间。届时它就会最终成为吞食俄国甚至其它国家的传统战机出口市场的那种战机了。这种情形可能会比俄国及西方分析家们今天预期得来得更早。就像半世纪前西方人眼中的米格15一样，对于俄国来说，歼十及其改进型可能带来一种并不令人愉快的惊诧。
“俄国设备也好，美国设备也好，一切都是台湾生产的。”在布鲁斯·威尔斯主演的科幻电影“末日之战”中，一位俄国宇航员如此报怨。今天，也许中国缺乏航空电子和发动机技术部件，但他们可以毫无阻碍地从俄国、法国和其它热情的先进航空航天设备供应商那里买到他们所需要的一切。你需要一台发动机吗？俄国以一种非常合理的价钱提供它最好的战斗机用涡扇发动机。你需要一部雷达或是航空电子设备吗？俄国、法国和以色列将非常乐意提供最尖端的设备。
想当年，俄国人曾被迫以高贵的代价偷偷仿制一种罗斯莱斯喷气发动机，以安装到它的米格15上去。今天，再也不采取这种极端的手法了——一切尖端的先进设备都可以买到。真正重要的是，要有如何把这些部件整合成一架战斗机的经验。歼十清楚地表明，中国正在迅速掌握这种经验。
中国人的这种新型战斗轰炸机的服役将会受到中国人民解放军空军的热烈欢迎，因为它在相当程度上增强了空军的战术攻击能力。台湾西方技术上的缓慢进展很快就会被消融得干干净净，而中国军力的壮大将使国家领土的统一成为不可避免的趋势。在包围台湾的长城上，歼十正是一块具有重要意义的砖石。
好好好!驭风兄弟辛苦了~~[em01][em00][em09][em08]
再配上图就更精彩[em02][em09][em09][em09]
顶~~~兄弟辛苦了
好文，又涨见识了。
顶呀！
顶
[此贴子已经被作者于2003-12-1 13:13:21编辑过]
直径1.180米
全长5.000米
净重1538 公斤
最大加力推力122.6千牛
不开加力最大推力79.43千牛
不开加力油耗 19.9mg/Ns
开加力油耗损 53.23mg /Ns
全长5.000米
净重1538 公斤
最大加力推力122.6千牛
不开加力最大推力79.43千牛
不开加力油耗 19.9mg/Ns
开加力油耗损 53.23mg /Ns
可以发现F型的变速器位置在发动机顶部，而FN 的变速器则移动到发动机下方,以便装进歼十.出于同样理由,长度也缩短了(前面俄国人的长度数据似应是F型的).
大家千万别跟后来从苏27系列中装推力矢量发动机的苏37甚至C37金雕搞混了 .
它是苏霍伊设想的单发单座多用途战斗攻击机,电传操纵,多目标接战,具有良好的机动性和强大对地攻击力.记得1991年它的1:20模型曾通过邮局寄到日本一家航空杂志社,因此轰动一时.这种古怪的披露方式可能是苏霍伊希望为这种飞机寻求国际合作而做的广告吧.可惜因经费问题终成泡影.
如果搞成,这将是世界上最大的单发战机,起飞重量可达25吨,但只装一台库兹涅佐夫设计局的18500公斤推力的P-79涡扇发动机,18个挂架载弹8吨!
当年曾对它一见钟情,渴望我们能与苏合作生产这样先进的飞机.
它是苏霍伊设想的单发单座多用途战斗攻击机,电传操纵,多目标接战,具有良好的机动性和强大对地攻击力.记得1991年它的1:20模型曾通过邮局寄到日本一家航空杂志社,因此轰动一时.这种古怪的披露方式可能是苏霍伊希望为这种飞机寻求国际合作而做的广告吧.可惜因经费问题终成泡影.
如果搞成,这将是世界上最大的单发战机,起飞重量可达25吨,但只装一台库兹涅佐夫设计局的18500公斤推力的P-79涡扇发动机,18个挂架载弹8吨!
当年曾对它一见钟情,渴望我们能与苏合作生产这样先进的飞机.
希望能看到更多的文章。
顶！楼主辛苦了！
俄罗斯的网站怎么用英文哪
非常感谢！
翻译得非常好，很流畅啊！！
翻译得非常好，很流畅啊！！
我看了一下英文版的，小伙子翻译的非常的好啊！有前途啊！
向在试飞前线努力工作并为之殉职的试飞英雄们致以崇高的敬礼！！！！！！
非常感谢！ 辛苦你了！好就一个字。
看样子，俄国人象是在炫耀他们的发动机和雷达。不过文章的一些细节经不起推敲，这里不便讨论，军友们自己去思考吧，哈哈哈.........。
很好的资料，驭风兄翻译也很出色，辛苦了！加精鼓励一下，希望驭风兄今后多发猛文！
关于那个S-37，我记得好像当时被称为苏－37啊，模型的照片刊登在《国际航空》上，那时候我也像驭风兄一样关注它，可惜那时候的杂志都不在了。
关于那个S-37，我记得好像当时被称为苏－37啊，模型的照片刊登在《国际航空》上，那时候我也像驭风兄一样关注它，可惜那时候的杂志都不在了。
good
辛苦拉
好好好
还说是中方最新报告中提到的。
这么大的事儿我怎么一点风声都没听说过。有哪位知道知道点线索吗？
再说就算真改强击机系列，也不能直接从强5蹦到强10啊。至少也应叫坚强10或强奸10什么的。
没准是老毛子汉语拼音不好搞错了。大家以为如何？
这么大的事儿我怎么一点风声都没听说过。有哪位知道知道点线索吗？
再说就算真改强击机系列，也不能直接从强5蹦到强10啊。至少也应叫坚强10或强奸10什么的。
没准是老毛子汉语拼音不好搞错了。大家以为如何？
F-16美国人主要就用来对地攻击，10的内部改改应该可以胜任类似的功能
好文章。
翻译得还真不赖啊！[em00][em01]
风哥，辛苦了！！！！！！！！！！！！！
[em01][em01][em01][em01][em01][em01][em01]
[em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00]
[em08][em08][em08][em08]
[em01][em01][em01][em01][em01][em01][em01]
[em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00][em00]
[em08][em08][em08][em08]
看看而已
涨见识
星神，怎么你的那幅图上又多了3架飞机了啊？
好好好，顶
谢了
长见识
快大量服役才是硬道理!!
我知道发动机出问题那次试飞，好像是主油箱漏油，但最后成功迫降
辛苦了，谢谢！
我虽然是个老军迷了（呵呵，有点托大是不是？我想我的年龄应该比这里的大多数同志们要大一点），不过在“超大”我还是个新来的。“超大”确实非常棒！这里有非常棒的文章、非常好的图片，还有最关键的就是这里气氛很好！大家都是很真诚的交流，各自发表自己的意见和想法，热烈的讨论，没有庸俗的漫骂，我非常喜欢！
愿“超大”越办越好！真正超大！永远超大！
愿“超大”越办越好！真正超大！永远超大！