Chengdu FC-1 Xiaolong (PT №04-06) - The Fierce Dragon

Would you like to see the FC-1 Xiaolong in game?
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0 voters


Today’s star - The FC-1 Xiaolong! (Pictured above is the prototype №06.)

To many Chinese military enthusiasts, this particular plane needs no further introduction - It is one of the most successful project of the Chinese aviation industry, having been exported to various countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, Nigeria and Iraq under the name of JF-17 Thunder.

In this suggestion, we will talk in detail about its original prototypes, namely prototypes №04-06 which are used for various armament demostrations.

Introduction

Chengdu FC-1 (Fighter China-1) Xiaolong originates from the “Super 7” project initiated by Grumman and Chinese aviation industries. It was based from both the Chinese F-7 fighter jet design and Grumman’s SABER II project, itself a further development of its F-20 Tigershark.

After Grumman pulled out from the project per request of the United States, China, partnered with Pakistan, pursued a more radical redesign, which forms the successful CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder. FC-1 Xiaolong is the direct predecessor of JF-17 Thunder, and it was the name for the 6 prototypes of this successful jet.

In the trial flights flown by China, the FC-1 Xiaolong was incorporated with more Chinese components compared to its production variant. It also had used only Chinese armament for weapons demostrations. Even nowadays, FC-1 is known as one of the few platforms capable of using PL-5E IR missile.

Later prototypes (as suggested in this post) also included the capability to carry dumb and guided bombs, SD-10 active radar missile, and C-802A anti-ship missile. It also came with a redesigned diverterless supersonic intake (DSI) to make the design more economical.

> Video of the prototype in action


History and Prototypes

After activating the “Super 7” program in 1989, Grumman and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation designed a new jet designed for export customers. Combining both western and Chinese technologies, they designed a mock up to visualize their ideas.

Unfortunately, after the political turmoil, Grumman was forced to pull out from the program, essentially dooming the entire project. However, China’s fondness of Grumman’s plan remained, and in 1995 China approached Pakistan once again for the same idea, and they agreed to collaborate. At the same time, Mikoyan also expressed interest in the program and provided China with the technology for their engines.

Yang Wei, the chief engineer of the program, led the program to success by designing an entirely indegious aircraft with Pakistan. Incorporating lessons he had learnt from the J-10 program (See my J-10S post for more), he is able to use the advanced Chinese avionics into the project. One big part of it is its digital fire controls and its multi role radar, which is commonly referred as an adversary to the Thales RDY radar.

The KLJ-7 radar used by JF-17.

The first FC-1 prototype flew in 25th August, 2003, demostrating to the world that China is capable of making 4th generation fighter jets for export. Subsequent flight tests were flown and Chengdu built 3 prototypes in total to evaluate and gather data for the aircraft design.

Starting from the 4th prototype, Yang Wei incorporated some big changes to its design - Its LERX was enlarged, a MAWS was installed on its tail and, more importantly, using DSI for the engine intake. The usage of DSI massively improved the efficiency of the engines and reduced its maintenance workload, saving a chunk of upkeeping costs.

The 4th prototype taking off.

Aside from the design changes, the KLJ-7 radar and fire control systems were also installed from 4th prototype onwards, allowing all of them to carry and fire all available weapon options. A total of 3 prototypes were built on this stage, meaning a total of 6 FC-1 prototypes were built during the entire sequence.

In this suggestion, we will specifically focus on the 3 latter prototypes as they are the only ones that have a full suite of avionics and armaments.


Specification

Crew: 1
Length: 14.97m
Wingspan: 9.46m
Height: 4.77m
Wing area: 24.4m2
Empty weight: 6,411kg
Takeoff weight (norminal): 9,072kg
Maximum takeoff weight: 12,474kg
Fuel: 2300kg (Internal) [Around 2900L]
Powerplant: 1x Kilmov RD-93 (Mil power: 49.4kN; Full afterburner: 84.4kN)
Max speed: Mach 1.6 / 700knots IAS

Avionics
KLJ-7 (Type 1478) AA/AG PD radar
Radar Warning Receiver with IFF
Missile Approach Warning


Armaments


Below are the armaments used exclusively for this prototype. Weapons from Pakistan WILL NOT be included, as it is not supposed to be used in Chinese prototypes.


Hardpoints 1 & 7

  • 1x PL-5E

Hardpoints 2 & 6

  • 1x PL-5E
  • 1x SD-10
  • 2x 250kg bomb
  • 1x 500kg bomb
  • 1x LT-2
  • 1x LS-6
  • 1x 90-1 rocket pod

Hardpoints 3 & 5

  • 1x Drop Tank (1100L)
  • 1x Drop Tank (800L)
  • 1x SD-10
  • 1x 250kg bomb
  • 1x 500kg bomb
  • 1x LT-2
  • 1x LS-6
  • 1x 90-1 rocket pod
  • 1x C-802AK ASM

Hardpoints 4

  • 1x Drop Tank (800L)
  • 1x WMD-7 Day/Night Targeting Pod (For LT-2)
  • 1x 250kg bomb
  • 1x 500kg bomb
  • 1x LS-6

Internal

  • 1x 23mm 23-3 cannon

Sources
  1. https://www.airshow.com.cn/Item/2304.aspx
  2. “枭龙”战机计划始末 – 北纬40°
  3. 国产FC-1枭龙轻型战机最新布局优势分析(组图)_新浪军事_新浪网
  4. 美军飞行员称枭龙战机主要功能与F-16相差不多_新浪军事_新浪网
  5. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/32293716
  6. https://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2006-04/28/content_269136.htm
  7. JF-17 Avionics | JF-17 Thunder
  8. Pakistan & China’s JF-17 Fighter Program
  9. Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra - JF-17 Thunder Aircraft
  10. 成都飞机工业(集团)有限责任公司
  11. 国产外销型PL-5EII格斗导弹优于美响尾蛇[图]_CCTV.com_中国中央电视台
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmOvTWwCPIA
  13. http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2010-07-23/0956602168.html?from=wap


14 Likes

+1 I guess Chengdu FC-1 Xiaolong could add to china tech tree rank VIII because Air-to-Air & Air-to-Ground armament for china only

well id love to see this in game but china dosent actually have any of these in service, the primary user and manufacturer being pakistan which calls them the Jf-17 thunder, so if an in game implementation is to be acheived, probably this would be named as the thunder prototype or something

but then again, this IS just the prototype, in which case it might be ok to roll it out as the FC-1… but the not in service issue is a big one

Pakistan only flown PT-01 before they received the first batch of JF-17s in 2007.

PT-04 to PT-06 consists of mostly Chinese technologies, which some of them were decided not to be included in the Pakistani JF-17.

Moreover, these specific airframes are called FC-1 by China, and is mostly flown and tested by the Chinese in their own facilities. With their own weapons.

So in the end, this suggestion is only about the prototypes, and JF-17 Block 1/2/3 belongs to another suggestion. It’s up for grabs.

8 Likes

what does gaijin do with vehicles not inducted into the military but at least prototyped by a non government company?

1 Like
  1. Chengdu Aircraft Corporation is owned by AVIC, and AVIC is owned by PRC, so it is a government company.

  2. See HSTV-L, MBT-2000, XM-8, Radpanzer 90, Class 3 (P), VT1-2, XP-50, F2G-1 and more

  3. It will be either regular, premium, squadron or event vehicle in Chinese tech tree.

9 Likes

+1

+1

DEFINITLY YESSSS!!!
I dont see any reason to reject this suggestion

3 Likes


PL-9C can be used in FC-1.

And this hardpoint can carry 2x PL-5E/SD-10

3 Likes

JF-17 can be in tech tree with Pakistan flag like TAM.

2 Likes

Hi, are there any proofs or images that PL-9C and dual SD-10 racks are mounted in PT-04/05/06 prototypes? Otherwise I believe this armament would be more suited towards JF-17 block 1, not the PT.

Maybe FC-1/JF-17 can mount SD10 at Hardpoints 3&5, but it has to mount the fuel tank due to voyage and other circumstances?

1 Like

I had seen JF-17 Block 3s mounting the dual rack.

But since PT-04 to PT-06 are prototypes flown between 2006 and 2008, it is not sure whether China tested this configuration yet, or until much later.

Remember this is an export jet, unless requested by PAC themselves, China will probably not provide the technology for mounting 2 SD-10s in a dual rack.

Edit: btw yes, I agree hardpoints 3 and 5 have SD-10 capabilities. Sorry for my oversight on that. Added to the list.

1 Like

Is there any possibility of it getting amraam or asraam?

Possible. It was designed to be compatible with western ammunition. And since paksiatn has amraams for its f16s they should be willing and looking to use them on f17s aswell

an interesting aircraft

+1
99 votes, this warrants a dev reaponse.

1 Like

Jokes on you, my J-10S suggestion have over 150 votes and still never warranted a dev response.

2 Likes

Yeah the number of votes doesn’t matter at all

1 Like