Somebody should get the AVIC and CATIC marketing staffs back on the same page.
I realized yesterday that I had picked up two different product cards in the exhibit halls of the Paris Air Show for the JF-17 Thunder, the low-cost, multi-role, Chinese-Pakistani collaboration.
One of the product cards came from AVIC, the JF-17 designer and manufacturer. The other card was produced by CATIC, office export/import for Chinese aerospace products. Each card shows different statistics for the same aircraft. I understand that different assumptions could drive changes in maximum take-off weight and ferry range. But surely the overall length and height of the airframe should be the same?
My guess is that CATIC is the culprit. I checked the CATIC web site, and the JF-17 page lists specifications that more closely match-up with the AVIC product card.
| Specifications | AVIC | CATIC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takeoff weight | 9,100kg | 9,100kg | Same |
| Speed | M1.6 | M1.6 | Same |
| Length | 14.26m | 14.0m | (-) 0.26m |
| Wingspan | 9.46m* | 8.5m | (-) 0.94m |
| Height | 4.77m | 5.1m | (+) 0.24m |
| MTOW | 13,300kg | 12,700kg | (-) 600kg |
| Ceiling | 16,000m | 16,700m | (+) 700m |
| Ferry range | 2,037km | 3,000km | (+) 963km |
| *AVIC wingspan includes wing-tip missiles |
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