Aircraft

China's Chengdu Aircraft (CAC) rolled out its fourth FC-1/Super-7 Thunder Dragon light fighter earlier this month and aims for a November appearance.  

The re-designed fourth prototype rolled out at a ceremony at CAC's facilities in the Sichuan province capital in mid-April (pictured below).

This prototype of the FC-1 is the first to feature air intakes. Chengdu has plans to fly the aircraft at the Zhuhai air show in early November. 

Chengdu says work on the first production aircraft is well underway and will be completed at the end of this year. The production aircraft will incorporate the new design features unveiled last year, including the revised air intakes, an extended stake and larger vertical fin (Flight International, 26 September-2 October 2005).

Chengdu so far has only secured an order from Pakistan for 16 FC-1s but expects a large follow-on order following deployment of the first batch and hopes to raise interest from the Chinese air force and other potential export customers from the Zhuhai air show.