JF-17 Thunder Fighter Aircraft

The first flight of FC-1/JF-17 Thunder took place in August 2003.Five prototypes are ready by now which are undergoing testing. Pakistanwill receive 10 of JF-17 Thunder aircrafts after June, 2006 for training purpose. The serial production will start in January, 2007 in Chengdu Aircraft Company.

Type
FC-1 / JF-17 Thunder is a single seat, single engine, All-whether, day-night Air Superiority fighter with limited ground attack capabilities.

Program
The "Saber-II" program started in 1990 with US assistance. The Northrop Grumman and CAC worked until 1992, the US cancelled this project. However, China managed to continue the project. This projectwas renamed as FC-1 (Fighter China-1) and it was then supported by theRussian Mikoyan OKB. In 1995, China invited Pakistan to join theproject so that Pakistan could fill its fighter gap. Pakistan invested 75 million USD (half of the total development cost) and accelerated the project.The entire design of the aircraft was changed. The aircraft wassupposed to be received in 2000-2001 but due to the Indian plan ofpurchasing Su-30 fighters, Pakistan asked China to make this aircraftBVR capable. China had been running its BVR missileproject to replaceits R-73. This missile, the SD-10, is believed to be carried by theFC-1. The SD-10 medium-range missile is under testing stage and will beready by 2005.

The first flight of FC-1 / JF-17 took place in August 2003. Fiveprototypes are ready by now which are undergoing testing. Pakistan willreceive 10 of theseaircrafts after June, 2006 for training purpose. The serial production will start in January, 2007 in Chengdu Aircraft Company.

JF-17 Prototypes

Prototype	First Official Flight	Role
PT-01	September 2nd, 2003	Testing of flight Envelope
PT-02	Static Test	Load Testing
PT-03	April 9th, 2004	Testing of flight Envelope
PT-04	Static Test	Fatigue Testing
PT-05	Now Flown	Certification and Qualification of avionics suite and weapons

Source: AFM

Design Features

The JF-17 Thunder possesses a third generation airframe.Mid-mounted wings and position of intakes are pretty similar to F/A-18and helps in reducing signature. Wings are situated quite after thecanopy which gives the JF-17 higher instantaneous turn rate and climbrate. Although, its overall maneuverability is 70% that of the F-16Falcon but its high climb rate makes the aircraft able to challengeearly fourth generation fighters. {mosimage}The enlarged bubble canopywill give the pilot better features, including the rare view. Thehorizontal stabilizers and elevators on the sides of fuselage will givethe wings of the aircraft a better angle of attack. Although theairframe does not use composites; the fuselage is composed of aluminiumalloys. After having lack of composites, the JF-17 Thunder still givesa thrust to weight ratio of 0.95, payload of 3800 kg and a maximum speed of Mach 1.6. The unstable design increases the performance of the aircraft in CIC/Dogfight as well as in Supersonic intercepting.

Avionics

The Chinese FC-1 will use Israeli Elta-2032 Radar since the JL-7 radar is under development stage. Another radar projectrunning is China is the JL-10 and these two radars will be installed inFc-1 and J-10 respectively. The JF-17 will use Italian FIAR Grifo S-7Pulse Doppler Radar. Initially, PAF negotiated for French radar(RC-400) and BVR missiles but France was trying to make Pakistan itscustomer for the Mirage 2000-5aircraft and refused to sell radars and missiles. This led PAF to gofor its last option i.e. Grifo S-7. This radar was purchased under transfer of technology agreement.

The Grifo radars are also installed in F-7P, F-7PGs and Mirage III/Vs of PAF. The Grifo M radar, installed in the MirageIII, have proved to be pretty capable, giving the aircraft limited BVRcapability. Therefore, it will be easier for the PAF to continue withthe Grifo series. The Grifo S-7 will have look-down/shoot-downcapability and will be a better platform for the PAF in BVR role. It isrumored that this radar lacks multi-targets tracking capability;however, the manufacturers are still quiet about the technical detailsof the radar until it enters production. FLIR pod is also absent in theavionic suite.

Other avionic systems include a smart Head-Up-Display (HUD),GPS/IPS and two smart Multi-Functional colored Displays. It will alsohave UOMZ SH-3UMI helmet-mounted sight (the same used in the RussianMiG-29) and dual digital FBW. The avionic systems also include IRSTS,CLDP and Helmet Mounted Display which will help the carry all-weatheroperations.

Power Plant

The JF-17 will be powered by one Klimov RD-93 turbofan, (anupgraded version of RD-33) which generates more thrust and being morefuel efficient then its previous version. The engine gives 11,000 pounds (49.4 kN) dry and 18,300 pounds (81.4 kN) of thrust with afterburning. The engine will be built in China under license.

Armament/Weapons

The JF-17 Thunder has 7 store stations and a payload of 3,800 kg.PL-8, PL-9C and AIM-9P are the short range missiles this aircraft willbe armed with. The SD-10/PL-12 will be the BVR weapon of the JF-17Thunder. The missile is based on Russian R-77 BVR missile and has amaximum range of more then 70 km.

For strike purpose, JF-17 will be able to carry Chinese LGB,Cluster Bombs, anti-runway bombs etc. The naval version of this JF-17will be armed with AM-39 Exocet missiles for anti-ship missions. Thefuture versions will also be having inflight refueling probe and deckarrester hook installed which will increase the striking range beyond3000 km.

Self-Defense

For self-defense, this aircraft is armed with GSh-23 mm canon(anti-tank) which has a fire rate of 840 rounds /minute. The ElectronicCounter Measures systems also include sensors like RWR and MAWS.

Latest Updates

According to well placed sources, the JF-17 prototype 04 has passedthe first phase of testing. The testing of prototype 05 will start nextyear to examin avionics systems and weapons. It was said that the ferryrange of this aircraft is close to 3,500 km and an operational radiusof more then 1300 km.
May 12th, 2006 -  Duringthe  test flights of  FC-1 / JF-17 Thunder Prototype 04 on April 28th,2006 and inaugural flight on May 9th witnessed by Pakistan Air Forceairchief the changes made to the aircraft are clearly visible in pictures here. The fourth prototype (04) has been redesigned with F-35JSF style Divertless Supersonic Intakes (DSI) being the most notablefeature; according to Lockheed Martin, DSI is more stealthy than otherconventional air intakes as well as DSI also diverts turbulentboundary-layer airflow away from the engine inlet
Some of the changes that were observed in JF-17 protoype 04:

1. Redesigned air intakes (DSI)
2. Larger wing leading-edge root extensions
3. Taller less swept Fin
4. Longer Ventral strakes at both sides of the AFT fuselage
5. Improved Weapon and Electronics systems

These changes were made due to problems that  were faced during test flights of first three prototypes.
The production is set to start in 2006in China. Pakistan has placedinitial order of 16 aircraft assembly of which will be shared betweenChina's Chengdu Aircraft and Pakistan's Pakistan Aeronatical Complex(PAC) for Pakistan Air Force. Pakistan plans to buy 150 aircraft, ofwhich 134 will be locally assembled by PAC.

JF-17 Thunder Technical Specification

Feature	Specification
Crew	1
Length	14 Meters / 45.9318 Feet
Wingspan	9 Meters / 29.5276 Feet
Payload	3,800 kg / 8,377.57 lb
Max. Speed	Mach 1.8
Max. Range	3,000 km / 1864.11 Miles
TWR	0.95
Armament	One GSh-23 mm canon; fire-rate of 840 rounds/minute
Engine	1 * RD-93; generates 11,000 pounds dry and 18,300 pounds with afterburning.
Ceiling	16,500 Meters / 54,133.9 Feet
+G Limit	8.5
Unit Cost	15 Million USD