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| June 14, 2003 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1424 |
Super-7 fighter jet ready to take off
BEIJING, June 13: The Super-7 fighter aircraft — result of Sino-Pakistan joint venture will undergo its test flight within next couple of months.
Sources said on Friday that Pakistan has about 50 percent share in developing the Super-7, both in terms of financial contribution and technical know-how.
Under an agreement, the engineers of the two countries worked together for the development and production of the aircraft with input from the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.
According to Chinese media report, the new-generation fighter aircraft is expected to make its maiden test flight later this year. A prototype of the “all-weather, multipurpose fighter jet” has just been completed.
The new model represents China’s most sophisticated light fighter for the 21st-century combat environment.
The single-seat, turbofan engine-powered fighter will go into volume production once tests have been successfully carried out. The aircraft aims to gradually replace the F-7, MiG-21 and Q-5 series aircraft that are currently in service in both China and some developing countries.
A model of the military aircraft, which is also codenamed the Super-7/FC-1, debuted at an air show in Zhuhai in South China’s Guangdong Province last year, reports China Daily.
Compared with the F-7, Q-5 and other fighter aircraft series currently in use in China, the Super-7 features a larger weapon-load capacity and a greater radar-detection range and it is stealth-capable. Its maximum external storage weight is 3.8 tons, and it boasts a radar-detection range of up to 100 kilometres, compared with the current jets’ 30 kilometres.—APP
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