Guizhou Aviation Industry is preparing to begin flight testing the FTC-2000 advanced jet trainer ahead of an expected Chinese air force requirement to replace the Guizhou JJ-7 from 2005.
Hu Xupir, Guizhou programmes division director, says three FTC-2000 prototypes are under construction with the first to be completed shortly and fly for the first time in mid-December.
Hu adds that first FTC-2000 deliveries are due in 2005. The FTC-2000, or JL-9, is an upgraded JJ-7, which entered service in 1986 and is also known as the FT-7. The JJ-7is a Chinese version of the Mikoyan MiG-21U.
The Chengdu WP-13F-powered FTC-2000 has a larger wing, bifucated inlets under the cockpit rather than a nose intake, and a higher cockpit profile than its predecessor.
The JJ-7 was developed to train fighter pilots for the MiG-21-based Chengdu J-7 and larger Shenyang J-8 fighters. "The J-7s and J-8s are being modified so we needed to develop a new trainer," says Hu.
The FTC-2000 cockpit will mimic that of the upgraded fighters, with a head-up display, multifunction display, electronic flight instruments and hands-on-throttle-and-stick inceptors.
China and Pakistan operate the JJ-7/FT-7 and Hu says exports will be pursued but Guiz- hou, a China Aviation Industry Corp I subsidiary, has not set anFTC-2000 production rate.
The FTC-2000's wing span is 8.32m (27.3ft), compared with the FT-7's 7.16m. The aircraft's top speed is Mach 2 compared with the FT-7's M1.6. Maximum design altitude is 52,500ft (16,000m) and it has a 2,500km (1,350nm) range. Take-off run at 9,800kg (21,600lb) will be 400-500m. The aircraft has five hardpoints.
Source: Flight International
