Chinese J-10 'benefited from the Lavi project'

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Chinese J-10 'benefited from the Lavi project'
Robert Hewson Jane's Air-Launched Weapons Editor
    Russia

Key Points
Russian sources have confirmed to Jane's that the J-10, which they worked on, is based on Israel's Lavi

China "had already had a lot of help from Israel", said one source

Russian aerospace engineers have confirmed to Jane's that China's Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft benefited from significant, direct input from Israel's Lavi programme - including access to the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Lavi aircraft itself.

In a number of interviews Jane's has talked at length with several engineers, designers and technical specialists - some of whom have been working with their Chinese counterparts for decades and have had first-hand experience on Chinese military projects. They have provided detailed accounts of the assistance given to various Chinese manufacturers and their military aircraft projects. This has included extensive design and performance modelling, wind-tunnel testing and advanced aerodynamic design input.

Senior Russian engineers who spoke to Jane's recalled their many visits to Chengdu, and elsewhere in China, some of which began in the 1980s. Jane's was told how Chengdu officials of the highest level stated how they had one of the IAI Lavi prototypes in their facilities. Describing his conversations with Chengdu concerning possession of a Lavi aircraft, one Jane's source commented: "I did not consider that to be a revelation ... doesn't everyone know that already?"

It is not possible to independently verify the Russian comments. The charge of Lavi technology transfer has been made before, but this time the claims come from individuals with sustained personal experience of the programme. Both Chinese and Israeli officials have long refuted any purported links between the J-10 and the Lavi.

Neither is it clear whether a Lavi aircraft was permanently transferred to China or if one was given to Chengdu for a specific period of time. When asked, the same Russian engineer commented that he had never heard anyone in Chengdu suggest that China had a acquired a Pakistan Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 for study to inform J-10 development - a claim that has been made elsewhere in the past.

Officials from Israel Aerospace Industries, previously Israel Aircraft Industries, declined to comment on the Russian claims.

Jane's has heard how Russian engineers met Israeli counterparts at Chinese facilities and often saw documentation and technical drawings marked in Hebrew. When asked about the J-10, one Russian department head remarked: "What Chengdu aircraft? There is no Chengdu aircraft. Everything they have came from somebody else."

There is no doubt that some J-10 design and development work was done in Russia. For example, in 2000 - when there were still flaws in the basic aircraft - Chengdu engineers took a number of different J-10 models to Russia for extensive wind-tunnel testing. A key Russian skill was the ability to conduct detailed spin and high-angle-of-attack testing in a horizontal wind tunnel.

One Russian specialist involved in those and other tests said: "They had already had a lot of help from Israel and what they wanted most of all was to validate their own people and their testing methods rather than the design. Chengdu already has access to a huge aerodynamics facility with underground wind tunnels."

Those Russian specialists who have worked in China are often scathing about China's real level of design capabilities and have become more so as China relies less and less on foreign industrial input. They remain impressed, however, by the scale of resources and funding that has been poured into China's programmes.

"The advance in facilities at Chengdu has been astonishing over the last 20 years. They now have a huge site with completely new test and development facilities, laboratories and an entirely new production line - quite apart from what was there to begin with. Chengdu is the only Chinese manufacturer to maintain its own design bureau. At Shenyang they have only a small office that can make small changes. Chengdu on the other hand is sitting in China's Silicon Valley. The nearby town of Mianyang is a major centre for China's electronics industry and also has a big aerodynamics research facility of its own [the China Air Dynamics Research and Development Centre]," Jane's was told.

However, the potential impact of the Sichuan earthquake of 11 May on the aviation industry centred around Chengdu could be severe. There were particular fears for the research facility at Mianyang, one of the towns close to the epicentre of the quake reported to have been completely destroyed. With the disaster striking at the heart of China's aviation hub, it was hard not to see the J-10 project - and China's aviation industry as a whole - suffering considerable setbacks.

areguard

Aku fikir tak ada salah China copied the working technology of Lavi for their benefit since the Israeli whores themselves are willing to sell the technology albeit developed by Uncle SAMS...this will also saved a lot of billions of yuan in R&D and testing...

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