Murphy's Law: China Chooses Cheap For New Pilots

Archives

June 9, 2010: China has decided not to buy the high-performance JL-15 jet trainer it has been developing (with help from Russian and Ukrainian firms) for nearly a decade. At least not yet. The 9.5 ton, twin engine JL-15 can achieve supersonic speeds, and has the kind of high-tech cockpit found in modern fighters. The JL-15 was designed to be produced in two versions; advanced trainer, and initial fighter trainer. This would smooth the transition to high end aircraft like the J-10 (similar to the F-16) and J-11 (an Su-27 clone).

Instead of the JL-15, the air force and navy are buying JL-9s. This is an upgraded version of the JJ-7 trainer, which was based on the J-7 (a Chinese copy of the Russian MiG-21). The JL-9 has side air intakes, and a radar dome up front. It doesn't look a lot like a MiG-21, and is somewhat easier to fly. While the JL-15 is a few years away from production, the JL-9 just entered production and is several million dollars cheaper than the twin-engine JL-15. Apparently, the Chinese believe that it's better, and cheaper, for new J-10 and J-11 pilots to learn in these aircraft, rather than spending more time in the pricey, but similar in performance, JL-15s.

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close