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ASIA PACIFIC, Argentina

Date Posted: 16-Feb-2015

Jane's Defence Weekly

China's J-10 advocated as Argentine

'Typhoon beater'
Key Points

A former PLAAF pilot has published an article on China Military Online advocating that
Argentina buys the J-10B combat aircraft

Argentine-Chinese talks on aerospace co-operation have previously focused on the less

capable FC-1
Andrew Tate
London
China Military Online, the website of the semi-official PLA Daily newspaper, has published an
analysis advancing the case for China to supply the Argentine Air Force with the Chengdu Aircraft
Industry Corporation (CAC) J-10B combat aircraft rather than the CAC/PAC JF-17/FC-1. The article
was published a week after the visit to China by Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner early this month and the reported establishment of a joint Chinese-Argentine fighter
aircraft working group.
The analysis has been produced by Xu Yongling, a former People's Liberation Army Air Force pilot
who is described as a "meritorious test pilot of the J-10 and air force theory expert". The principal
focus of his analysis is the presence of UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon fighters in
the "Malvinas [Falkland] Islands".
Xu acknowledges that the FC-1, which he describes as a development of the J-7 fighter (itself a
development of the MiG-21) aimed specifically at third-world markets, is a relatively inexpensive
option, quoting a unit price of USD30 million. He concludes, however, that if Argentina were to
acquire the FC-1, it would not "substantially help improve the situation in the Malvinas [Falkland]
Islands" because of its presumed low operational effectiveness against Typhoons.
Xu advocates that Argentina should instead procure the J-10, which he categorises as a fourthgeneration aircraft. He notes that the 500 km distance between Argentina and the Falklands
would be challenging for the initial J-10 variants, but that the acquisition of J-10B aircraft would
overcome this limitation as they are equipped for in-flight refuelling, providing Argentina were to
also acquire tanker aircraft.
He asserts that the J-10B would be evenly matched against a Typhoon, highlighting that the J-10B
is equipped with a "phased-array radar" compared with the Typhoon's current "traditional pulse
Doppler radar", and claims that China's current generation of air-to-air missiles are the equal of
the US AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile and AIM-9 sidewinder short-range

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dogfighting missile. He specifically highlights the PL-12 "active radar-guided medium-range
missile" and the PL-10 "infrared imaging guided missile".

COMMENT
Collaboration with China to manufacture new combat aircraft for the Argentinian Air Force has
been a subject of discussion for some time, although the focus has previously been the on FC-1.
However, Xu refers to aircraft and ammunition production facilities in the context of the J-10,
which appears to increase the offering considerably.
While Xu is not an official spokesman, it is unlikely that his comments would be published on the
PLA Daily 's English language website if they were at variance with the official line. China appears
increasingly keen to market advanced military hardware such as the J-10 and the J-31 stealthenhanced fighter, and may be willing to offer attractive financing terms to achieve a breakthrough
into new markets in South America.

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