Throw "Furious Dragon"
The government of Yemen is considering the possibility of purchasing Chinese fighter jets FC-1 Xiaolong ("Furious Dragon"). They are already being delivered to Pakistan, they are of interest in a number of Asian and African countries, and therefore in the next decade they will be able to turn China into a serious player in the market of cheap multifunctional aircraft systems.
Silent breakthrough on the secondary front
In fact, this aircraft is actually our MiG-21. More precisely, it is the ultimate that from the concept of this exceptionally successful Soviet fighter it was possible to squeeze out at the current technological stage with the installation of new engines and modern element base.
The creation of this machine dates back to 1986, when the Chinese collaborated with the American company Grumman on the issue of deep modernization of their J-7 aircraft (this is exactly the MiG-21, which has undergone “reverse engineering” and is manufactured at Chinese enterprises). The joint Super-7 project gave the Celestial Aviation Industry several original technological developments, but after the suppression of the uprising in Tiananmen Square, it was gradually curtailed and completely stopped by 1990. But in the 90s, many Russian specialists in the field were left idle aviation technicians who quite actively began to advise Chinese colleagues.
What happened at the exit? The maximum take-off weight of the machine does not exceed 13 tons, it is equipped with a high-quality avionics complex (despite the Chinese refusing the Russian-made radar), as well as modern optoelectronic systems. The layout of the aircraft is similar to its predecessor, the J-7, but creatively incorporates some of the solutions peeped from the American F-16. Seven suspension assemblies allow you to carry up to 8000 pounds (3629 kg) of combat load.
Of course, the Chinese Air Force will also receive the car, but their priorities are “metal more attractive” - the heavier J-10 fighter, created, among others, under the influence of Israeli Lavi and the American F-16 with extensive borrowing of the decisions of the Russian Su-27. In fact, when you talk about the FС-1, we are talking about a full-fledged light fighter designed to replace the fleet of outdated second-third generation multi-purpose aircraft, in large numbers in poor countries and rapidly failing for technical reasons.
This is primarily a huge pool of Soviet cars of the MiG-21 family, their Chinese counterparts J-7 (F-7 in export designation), as well as the American F-4 Phantom, F-5 Tiger and the French Mirage F.1. It is impossible not to mention the very ancient aircraft supporting the ground forces like the Chinese Q-5 Fantan - a deep modernization of the Soviet MiG-19, which successfully took root in the air forces of some countries in Africa and Asia, including North Korea.
The Chinese estimate the potential export market for "Dragons" in 250 – 300 units, which is quite a lot. Some experts go further, believing that the potential for modernizing the fleets of developing countries comes to 400 – 500 fighters and the Chinese aircraft may well take an overwhelming share of this quota (which is, however, purely theoretical, primarily for financial reasons).
Wings of big politics
In the middle of the 90-s, Pakistan became interested in developing FC-1, having just lost the opportunity to buy F-16 from the USA. Islamabad turned to its traditional military-technical wand - Beijing, doing everything to insert sticks into the wheels of the original Asian rival - India. In the Pakistani contract, “Dragon” became “Thunder”, having received the designation JF-17 Thunder. Moreover, in recent years, “screwdriver” production of these machines for its own Air Force has been launched in Pakistan.
History with Pakistani interest in a fighter worried another strong player in the regional market weapons - Moscow. At the beginning of 2007, Russia blocked the export of JF-17 to third countries. The lever of influence on the Chinese arms business was the RD-93 engines, which are a version of the Russian RD-33 family (designed for MiG-29 aircraft) with changes in the layout of the modular box.
By the quite frank admission of Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, this was done for political reasons, so as not to disturb mutual understanding between Moscow and Delhi. On the other hand, I really didn’t want to choose between my two most important partners in the field of military-technical cooperation. Beijing pretended nothing was happening.
In the end, less than three months later, the delivery of the first batch of fighters with Russian engines to Pakistan nevertheless took place. Officials of the Russian Federation did not comment on the situation, but a number of sources gave their interpretations of Beijing's similar behavior as a violation of bilateral agreements.
In the middle of 2007, the delicate situation was legalized de jure: Vladimir Putin put his signature on a set of agreements giving the Russian side permission to re-export the RD-93 to Pakistan. For several months, the hard work of our military-technical cooperation specialists went on to smooth out the corners in relations with India, which is very sensitive to any attempts to re-equip the north-western neighbor. It was necessary to prove to the Indians that JF-17 is almost a “garbage” apparatus, not comparable in any way with the fact that Moscow supplies Delhi (and if the latter is true truth, then a considerable amount of guile lies in the first statement). By the way, it was at this time that the agreement on the transfer to India of the same RD-33 family of technologies and the deployment of licensed production there entered into force.
Back in the beginning of 2000, China began to develop its own engine, which is analogous to the RD-33, and is now close to establishing its serial production under the designation WS-13 Taishan. Now this is an absolutely raw, not finished-up piece of work, about 9 percent more difficult than its progenitor, having, according to some data, a lifespan not exceeding 100 – 120 hours and major problems with a burden. In other words, it’s exactly that in 5 – 6 years it can well become a reliable and high-quality engine of light fighters, the “de facto standard” of power units for low-cost third-world aviation. There are plenty of reasons for such optimism in Chinese technology policy (and not only defense).
Troubled perspectives
In July, 2010 of the year, Mikhail Pogosyan, who now heads Sukhoi AHC and MiG RSK, the leading domestic developers of fighter aviation, sharply opposed the continuation of the practice of supplying RD-93 engines to China, believing that JF-17 is a rival of MiG-29 on emerging markets. This is actually the first direct recognition of the competitive advantages of Chinese aircraft to domestic models.
The potential Yemeni contract can be considered a very good, almost polygon illustration of the concerns of our experts. The Yemeni Air Force is based on the Soviet MiG-29А and MiG-29ММТ fighters, MiG-21МФ, MiG-23БН fighter-bombers, and also American F-5E Tiger (for 40 – 45 planes, as a result of a survey, they are subject to a survey, and they are subject to a survey. units of each type). “Thunders” may well replace a fair amount of machines of this battered fleet, to a certain extent duplicating each other’s functions, thereby also allowing the Yemeni government to save on spare parts and repairs.
To say that the Yemeni situation is unique can not be. As already noted, there are quite a few poor countries in the world, which in various ways managed the battered Soviet or American aircraft of previous generations, which are now failing both in moral and in some places also due to physical deterioration. The latter is especially characteristic of African countries, where the Air Force maintenance services are traditionally weak.
Moreover, on the Black Continent, Beijing has an effective lever of influence on the sales of Celestial aircraft. In recent years, many experts have noted the active and quite assertive, as they would say in the Soviet years, the “penetration of Chinese capital” into Central and South Africa. PRC companies receive mining concessions, improve infrastructure, build roads and power plants, and invest huge amounts of money in growing crops.
The “exclusive” line of military-technical cooperation also fits into the logic of developing ties with African regimes. To lend to the poor South African states for the purchase of JF-17 by them for replacing MiG-21 scattering from neglect is quite a natural step.
Among the countries interested in the fighter, besides the already named Pakistan and Yemen are Nigeria and Zimbabwe, as well as Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan and, as is typical, Iran. And in August, 2010 of the year, which considers the possibility of purchasing 24 fighter jf-xnumx, said Azerbaijan. At the same time, as far as is known, no consultations were held with Moscow, which is the traditional major partner of Baku in military-technical cooperation.
It is too early to say that the concerns of Mikhail Pogosyan little by little begin to come true - primarily because of the obvious dependence of the Chinese aircraft on the deliveries of Russian engines. But how long will this dependence play its role against the background of the development of a new power plant in the PRC and what will happen next?
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