J-10 at the AA2002? where? From what I heard, its roughly equal
in capability to a F-16 Blk 30. Of course, chinese views vary
greatly. Some claim that its more capable than the JSF (yeah,
right), some claim that its only slightly better than the
F-8II.
I support the view that its about as capable as the Blk 30. It has
high foreign content, having the AL-31FN as its powerplant, giving
it good TW ratio. Its avionics are Isreali and Russian, and it
seems to have a quad-redundant flight system. Some articles claim
that the avionics are sensor-fused, but if it is true, it qould be
limited, considering that Isreal, which is better than Russia and
China in software development, has still not come up with true
sensor-fusion yet. In terms of the radar, they still seem to be
considering a few Russian and Isreali radars, but it should be
roughly comparable to early models of the APG-68.
It is a 'lo' end mix to the SU-30, and thus naturally, would not be
as capable as the Rafale, Typhoon, Eagle or even the F-16 Blk 60.
However, its undeniably a significant step to producing a modern
plane, from China's point of view. (even though, IMO, the help
gotten from the LAVI program and from the F-16s provided from
Pakistan is so huge, and so much equipment is foreign, that this is
not really a plane China can claim to be "100% China" )
Furthermore, the AL-31FN has to be provided by Russia, they have
not agreed to let China make the engine. I have heard that a second
variant of the J-10 will use the domestically produced WP-15 engine
instead, which is not as good as the AL-31FN, but at least its
domestically made, and doesn't come with any restrictions.
