Power Nations: Chengdu J-10 (J-10 Vigorous Dragon / F-10 Vanguard)

Role	Multirole combat aircraft
National origin	China
Manufacturer	Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation
Designer	Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute
First flight	23 March 1998
Introduction	2005
Status	In service
Primary user	People's Liberation Army Air Force
Produced	2002 – present
Number built	220 As of August 2012
Program cost	500 million RMB allocated in 1982 (Project #10)
Unit cost	190 million RMB ( $ 27.84 million; 2010)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 15.49 m
Wingspan: 9.75 m
Height: 5.43 m
Wing area: 33.1 m²
Empty weight: 9,750 kg
Loaded weight: 12,400 kg
Useful load: 6,000 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 19,277 kg
Powerplant: 1 × Saturn-Lyulka AL-31FN or WS-10A Taihang turbofan
- Dry thrust: 79.43 kN / 89.17 kN (17,860 lbf / 19,000 lbf)
- Thrust with afterburner: 125 kN / 130 kN (27,999 lbf / 29,000 lbf)

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.2 at altitude, Mach 1.2 at sea level
g-limits: +9/-3 g (+88/-29 m/s², +290/-97 ft/s²)
Combat radius: 1,600 km (with air to air refueling), 550 km (without air to air refueling)
Ferry range: 1,850 km
Service ceiling: 18,000 m
Wing loading: 381 kg/m²
Thrust/weight: 1.024 (with AL-31); 1.085 (with WS-10A)

Armament

Guns: 1× 23mm twin-barrel cannon
Hardpoints: 11 in total (6× under-wing, 5× under-fuselage) with a capacity of 6,000 kg (13,228 lb) external fuel and ordnance
Rockets: 90 mm unguided rocket pods
Missiles:
- Air-to-air missiles: PL-8, PL-9, PL-11, PL-12
- Air-to-surface missiles: PJ-9, YJ-9K
Bombs: laser-guided bombs (LT-2), glide bombs (LS-6) and unguided bombs
Others:
- Up to 3 external fuel drop-tanks (1× under-fuselage, 2× under-wing) for extended range and loitering time

Avionics