The Chengdu Aerospace J-10 fighter was first shown at the Zhuhai Airshow in 2008, and significant progress has been made in the development of the program since then. The evolution of the J-10 program can be compared with the directions of modernization of the American F-16.
One of the main ways to improve the F-16 was to equip this aircraft with a more powerful turbojet engine F110-GE-100 instead of the originally installed F-100-PW-100/220. The new engine has more than 6,000 pounds of thrust than the previous one. The development of the Chinese J-10 is in the same direction, that is, work is underway to equip the fighter with a new WS-10A engine from the national company Liming Aeroengine Manufacturing Corporation (LMAC).
According to Chinese media reports, the WS-10A is undergoing flight tests on the J-10B prototype. This engine is to replace the AL-31FN turbojet engine produced by the Russian company Salyut.
The J-10B variant has a completely new design of the air intake device than that of the J-10A equipped with the AL-31FN, which again repeats the evolution of the F-16 fighter, which received a "big mouth" air intake to increase air flow for power supply of the more powerful F110-GE-100 engine.
However, for modern combat aircraft, it is even more important to be equipped with the latest electronic equipment. Representatives of the Chinese aircraft industry said that a new line of onboard equipment is in development. In particular, the aircraft will receive a more powerful container electronic warfare system of the CETC KG300G type, which will operate at a greater number of frequencies. In addition, the fighter will receive an on-board active phased array (AFAR) radar that will replace the existing mechanical scanning radar. One Chinese designer said that the use of AFAR radar "greatly improves the performance of any fighter, as it provides incomparably better efficiency and reliability of the station."
