Xian Aircraft (XAC) and Xian Aircraft Design and Research Institute have dropped plans to re-engine the JH-7 Flying Leopard fighter-bomber, say officials.
The developers had been considering installing Russian Lyulka Saturn AL-31F engines to replace the twin-engined aircraft's Xian WS9 powerplants, which are Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 202s licence-built in China. The AL-31F already powers the SukhoiSu-27, being built in China for the People's Liberation Army (PLA)air force as the J-11, and the Su-30, also ordered by China.
"Our institute had planned to do this, but we have cancelled these plans because the FBC-1 [export designation for the JH-7] is focused on medium and low altitudes, and the Sukhoi is optimised for high altitudes," says one official. Another industry source says the cost of such a re-engining programme would be prohibitive.
Xian, an AVIC I subsidiary, declines to confirm reports that about half of a 25-aircraft order for the JH-7 has been delivered to the PLA navy. The aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight of 28,475kg (62,720lb) and an external payload of 6,500kg, first flew in 1988 and was shown in public for the first time at the 1998 Zhuhai show, marking the start of international marketing of the type.
AVIC I also refuses to confirm press reports of a sale of up to 100 F-7MG fighters, built by Chengdu Aircraft Industry (Group), to Pakistan's air force. The aircraft is a development of the F-7 with increased wing area, improved control surfaces and a LiyangWP-13F powerplant. It is also equipped with a BAE Systems Super Skyranger radar.
On its stand at the show, AVIC I displayed a variant of the F-7, the F-7MF, which it describes as a "new export version developed from the F-7MG aircraft". Instead of the F-7's traditional nose intake, the F-7MF has been designed with a chin intake, with an unspecified multi-mode pulse Doppler radar mounted in the nose. It also has small canards mounted forward of its double delta wing.
AVIC I says the aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, with a 2,600km (1,400nm) range and a 16,000m (52,500ft) ceiling. No details have been given of how far development has progressed.
Prominently displayed in the Chinese pavilion on a large model of the FBC-1 was a new type of ramjet powered air-to-surface missile (ASM). Xian and other Chinese officials declined to comment on the new missile.
For several years there have been reports of a new Chinese ramjet missile programme, in addition to reports of China either purchasing or co-producing the Zvezda Kh-31P anti-radiation missile. The new missile's dimensions are similar to those of the C-802 subsonic anti-ship missile, and could perform anti-ship or anti-radiation missions. Its display on the FBC-1 indicates that the new supersonic ASM could soon be offered for sale.
China also revealed a millimeter wave seeker for the 15km-rangeC-701 air-to-surface missile. In 1998 the C-701 was revealed with a TV guidance system. Designers said the seeker has been tested on the missile from ground and naval platforms, and could later be fired from aircraft, giving China a Maverick-like missile.
Source: Flight International
