China's Super-7 new-generation fighter aircraft is expected to make
its maiden test flight later this year, a senior engineer with the
China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) said yesterday in Beijing.
A
prototype of the "all-weather, multipurpose fighter jet" has just
been completed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group, a branch
of the Beijing-based AVIC I in Southwest China's Sichuan
Province, said Gao Zhicong.
Gao, who is in charge of the project, said the new model represents
China's most sophisticated light fighter for the 21st-century
combat environment.
China independently designed and built the fighter, Gao said.
The single-seat, turbofan engine-powered fighter will go into
volume production once tests have been successfully carried out, he
said.
"The Super-7 aims to gradually replace the F-7, MiG-21 and Q-5
series aircraft that are currently in service in both China and
some developing countries," he told China Daily in an
exclusive interview.
A
model of the military aircraft, which is also codenamed the
Super-7/FC-1, debuted at an air show in Zhuhai in South China's Guangdong
Province last year. It attracted keen interest from many
visitors, according to Luo Ronghuai, president of the Chengdu
aircraft manufacturer.
Both Luo and Gao declined to specify either the potential importing
nations or the price.
Compared with the F-7, Q-5 and other fighter aircraft series
currently in use in China, the Super-7 features a larger
weapon-load capacity and a greater radar-detection range and it is
stealth-capable, Gao said.
Its maximum external storage weight is 3.8 tons, and it boasts a
radar-detection range of up to 100 kilometers, compared with the
current jets' 30 kilometers, he said.
"The Super-7 is capable of carrying out the dual mission of
air-to-air and air-to-surface attacks," Gao said.
The cost-effective aircraft can be used as a fighter or a trainer,
he said.
(China Daily June 13, 2003)