J-10A

J-10A

␗F-16A MLU

␗Mirage 2000-5Ei

J-10A

␗F-16A MLU

␗Mirage 2000-5Ei

China

VIII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
13.7	13.7	13.7

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:410 000

Purchase:1 100 000

Description

The J-10A (Early)（歼-10A型歼击机), officially the K/AJJ10A, known by its nickname "Vigorous Dragon 猛龙" or by its NATO codename "Firebird", is the new generation single-seater multirole fighter for PLAAF since 2006 as the replacement of previous fleets of J-6 to J-8I series. Foreseeing the limitations of 2nd generation interceptors in the aerial combats of 1980s, engineers of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation has been working on a new generation jet fighter with some designs deemed innovative to Mainland China in 1960s all the way to 1978; although this program dubbed "J-9" bit the dust, one of its designs, J-9-VI series, which were known by their iconic canard design, were retained for further development in near future. By 1982, Song Wencong (宋文骢) brought in the J-9-VI aerodynamic model and impressed the officials during the hearing for the development of new interceptor; after the aerodynamic issues and further refinement on the J-9-VI design, the new aircraft would soon be named Project No. 10 (十号工程) and commence in 1986. This also brought in a major issue for the program: extremely high percentage of new components with very low compatibility to any previous interceptors, especially the digital FBW control which wasn't even been introduced to Mainland China at all; after addressing on the manufacturing difficulties and programmed for any possibility of scenarios for the FBW system, the J-10 rolled of the production line in 1997 and soared to the skies on March 23rd, 1998. With flight tests conducted successfully without any crashes and further refinements made to the design, J-10 delivered its lead-in series to PLAAF on March 2003 was certified for commission in 2004; by 2006, the new fighter was officially introduced in the year's national defense white paper.

It was introduced in Update "Dance of Dragons" as the end-on-the-line fighter for Chinese tech tree, J-10A brought in many much-appreciated features as an all-in-one multirole fighter which was lacking for the tech-tree; now featuring a Su-27 equivalent of BVR AAMs and selections of guided air-to-ground munitions which was once only available on JH-7A, J-10A can become a very formidable foe in battle with excellent maneuverability and impressive payload for its size.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 12 000 m2 146 km/h

Turn time19 s

Max altitude16 500 m

EngineSaturn AL-31FN

Type

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight60 t

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at _,___ m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	___	___	16500	__._	__._	__._	__._	___
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
_	_	_	_	_	_

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	620	___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	-

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
_____		_	_,___ kg		___ kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel
___ kg	___		_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (___%/WEP)
Condition	100%	___%/WEP	_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel	MGW
Stationary	___ kgf	___ kgf	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Optimal	___ kgf (_ km/h)	___ kgf (_ km/h)	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear620 km/h

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 940 → 4 430

RB8 485 → 12 786

SB9 991 → 15 056

Total cost of modifications313 000

485 000

Talisman cost3 200

Crew training310 000

Experts1 100 000

Aces3 600

Research Aces1 350 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

90 / 320 / 500 %

256 / 256 / 256 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 New boosters Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 670 Wings repair Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 Engine Research: 20 000 Cost: 31 000 750	Fuselage repair Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 Airframe Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 670 G-suit Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 Cover Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 EFS Research: 20 000 Cost: 31 000 750	ns23_belt_pack Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 PL-5EII Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 Type 250/LS-6 250 Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 K/ADC03A Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 Flares/Chaff Research: 9 000 Cost: 14 000 340 ns23_new_gun Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 670 GB250 Research: 18 000 Cost: 28 000 670 HF-7A Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 PL-8 Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 Type 500/LS-6 500 Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 480 HF-14 Research: 20 000 Cost: 31 000 750 PL-12 Research: 20 000 Cost: 31 000 750 GB500 Research: 20 000 Cost: 31 000 750

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)	EEGS

Offensive armament

The J-10A is armed with:

• 1 x 23 mm Type 23-3 cannon, belly-mounted (200 rpg)
• 72 x large calibre countermeasures

Suspended armament

Describe the aircraft's suspended armament: additional cannons under the wings, bombs, rockets and torpedoes. This section is especially important for bombers and attackers. If there is no suspended weaponry remove this subsection.

Default weapon presets

2 x 800 l drop tanks 2 x PL-5EII missiles + 2 x PL-12 missiles 6 x PL-5EII missiles 6 x PL-8 missiles 6 x PL-12 missiles 28 x Type 90-1 rockets 16 x Type 130-2 rockets 11 x 250 kg 250-3 bombs (2,750 kg total) 5 x 500 kg 500-3 bombs (2,500 kg total) 11 x 250 kg 250-4 bombs (2,750 kg total) 5 x 500 kg 500-4 bombs (2,500 kg total) 2 x 260 kg GB250 bombs (520 kg total) 2 x 570 kg GB500 bombs (1,140 kg total) 2 x 290 kg LS-6 250 bombs (580 kg total) 2 x 630 kg LS-6 500 bombs (1,260 kg total)

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] J-10A: The Firebird

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (中航工业成都飞机工业集团)
Jet Fighters
J-7	J-7II* · J-7D · J-7E
J-10	J-10A
JF-17	JF-17**
Drones	Wing Loong I
	*Unlicensed and reverse-engineered version of the MiG-21.
	**Jointly developed and built by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.
See Also	Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau · Pakistan Aeronautical Complex