The Chinese military is preparing the mass production of a third-generation jet fighter training plane and could roll out as many as 10 of the JL-9 Mountain Eagles next year, state press reported yesterday.
The plane would be manufactured by the Guizhou Aviation Industry Group, but it was still unclear if the Chinese air force had signed contracts to purchase the trainer jet, the China Daily reported.
A model of the aircraft made its maiden flight in December 2003, with reports at that time saying mass production would begin this year.
The plane, whose NATO designation is FTC-2000, is expected to train fighter pilots flying third-generation craft like the Russian Sukhoi Su-27s and Su-30s, the most advanced fighters in China's air force.
The planes can also be fitted as fighter aircraft and sold to developing markets, the report said.
"Our goal is to see to it that a number of the new trainers go to the military in 2006," Zhang Shangdao (
"Since it is both a fighter and trainer, some small countries, lacking a large fleet of fighter planes, could use the Mountain Eagle to train their fighter pilots in peacetime, arming it for use as a fighter in wartime," Zhang added.
The Guizhou factory, which is part of the China Aviation Industry Corp I, has manufactured some 1,100 planes for the Chinese military since it was set up in 1964.
The JL-9 is powered by a domestically-made WP-13 turbojet engine.
It can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 and can carry two pilots.
RSS