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The Chinese J-10 fighter is now equipped with thrust vectorization controls that allow the jet to perform seemingly impossible aerial maneuvers. This long-time modernization of a well-known fighter jet made its debut at the Zhuhai Air Show.
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The "Vigorous Dragon" of Chengdu J-10 is a single-engine fighter developed for the air force of the People's Liberation Army (Chinese Air Force). The J-10 falls in the same general category as the American F-16 and the two planes share the same DNA, the Chinese jet having been built with Israeli assistance Israeli fighter Lavi, based on the F-16. However, on some technological aspects, the Chinese plane is about fifteen years behind the F-16 platform and even further than modern fighters like the F-35.
Even in this case, the J-10 now has something the F-16 does not have: a strong vectorization control capability that pushes its maneuverability into the stratosphere. The jet is able to steer its escape, which allows it to point the nose in one direction but to propel itself into another.
In traditional aircraft, the direction of the engines determines the direction of the aircraft. Engines are pointed towards the front and the plane advances. Pilots use traditional control systems – rudders, lifts, flaps, ailerons and brakes – to steer the plane where they want to go.
Getty ImagesGérard Julien
Thrust vectorization control (TVC) reverses this idea. Pioneer in the United States in the early 1990s, TVCs change the direction of the engine exhaust, which allows moving in a direction other than that where the engine (and the aircraft) is actually pointed.
The result could be a plane that seems to suddenly crash into the air, stand up like a dragon, slow down, or perform another aerial maneuver impossible. With computer-controlled flyby wire technology that instantly activates the pilot's controls, the pilot does not have to perform complex calculations to get his plane to do what he wants. It does it simply and the plane takes care of the rest.
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At first, this trick was made with paddles who pushed into the engine exhaust to change the direction of the thrust. Think about when you partially cover a garden hose nozzle with your thumb; the water always comes out, but in the opposite direction to that of your thumb.
Modern thrust vectoring technology uses a movable thrust nozzle in place of the pallets. Using this technology, the F-22 Raptor can tilt its thrust up to 24 degrees from top to bottom. Russia has begun to incorporate TVC into the Sukhoi Su-30 and the new Su-35. This is also a feature of the fifth generation Su-57 fighter. In 2017, the Su-35 performed aerial maneuvers blowing up the head at an air show on the outskirts of Moscow thanks to TVC. Today, the Chinese J-10 joins this elite club of super-maneuverable fighter jets.
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For months, there has been reports out of China that Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, the developer of the J-10, was working on a TVC exhaust system for the single-engine fighter. A photo of a J-10 with TVC appeared in January 2018, but no official announcement has been made. Finally, the J-10B equipped with the TVC channel debuted yesterday with a mobile nozzle. Instead of using a thumb to control the direction of the water, this hose will rotate the entire nozzle.
According to FlightGlobal, the J-10B of the Zhuhai Air Show achieved "tight vertical loops, a small high angle of attack, a cobra maneuver and the falling of the leaf". Popular mechanics covered some of these maneuvers in 2017 when a Russian fighter Su-35 Flanker-E executed them at the Zhukovsky Air Show.
The big question is where does Chinese TV go? Although the United States tested this technology in the early 1990s, it did not add this technology to later versions of the F-15, Super Hornet or F-16, or even the F-35. Although TVC is useful, you can only accumulate many features for a fighter, and US manufacturers have not given priority to TVC.
The latest Chinese planes, the FC-31 and the J-20, do not have a TVC and will probably never have it. But even if TVC does not have the advantage of reaching the plane, the Chinese aviation can affirm that it can keep pace with the technological innovations defined by Russia and the West.
