"Military Sub-plane" author: Big Ivan
According to local media reports in Myanmar, recently, six FTC-2000G "Divine Eagle" multirole fighters ordered by the Myanmar Air Force from China Aviation Technology and manufactured by Guihang have taken off from China to the Namsang Air Base in Shan State, Myanmar, and officially delivered to the Myanmar Air Force and joined the combat sequence.
This is the Myanmar Air Force's second import of advanced tactical models made in China with certain third-generation combat capabilities after the import of FC-1 Block 2 "Thunder Dragon" fighters, and it is also the third order obtained by the FTC-2000G "Divine Eagle" fighter in Sudan and Cambodia.
Origin of FTC-2000G
Speaking of the FTC-2000G "Divine Eagle" fighter, it is estimated that everyone's questions are piled up, such as when did we have such a fighter, when did this fighter become a "multi-role fighter"?
This, in fact, FTC-2000G "Divine Eagle" fighter, we mentioned once in 2020. This type of aircraft first appeared at the 12th Zhuhai Air Show in 2018, when Guihang defined it as a "light multirole fighter". Of course, in terms of technical origin, this FTC-2000G comes from Guihang's FTC-2000, that is, the Trainer-9 advanced trainer aircraft equipped by the Chinese Air Force, which is equipped with the Air Force and naval aviation units, which is known as "Mountain Eagle" and "Sea Mountain Eagle".
Comparison of "Seamount Eagle" (top), "Mountain Eagle" (middle) and "Divine Eagle" (bottom).
The Coach-9 advanced trainer aircraft is directly modified by Guihang with the J-7A, and even some large parts of the fuselage can be directly used with the J-7A, and the J-7A needless to say is the same type of teaching of the J-7 series. Therefore, the FTC-2000G light multirole fighter is the latest modification of the J-7 series fighter, that is, the MiG-21F-13 fighter. It's just that this MiG-21F-13 has indeed changed a little too much, and it has been changed to the point that even Mikoyan Grevich himself does not recognize.
The versatility of the FTC-2000G
As for the multi-role fighter, in fact, the FTC-2000G fighter is really a light, multi-purpose fighter, and people's multi-purpose is able to undertake air and ground combat missions, which is a dual task, and the FTC-2000G fighter directly becomes a "triple mission fighter":
As we all know, the FTC-2000 was originally an advanced trainer aircraft, mainly facing the Chinese Air Force flight cadets from the instructor-8 to the combat unit, the main training subjects include advanced aerobatic training, basic tactical training and so on. At the same time, since the FTC-2000 uses a turbojet engine with afterburner, supersonic flight training that cannot be carried out on the Trainer-8 can also be carried out incidentally on the Trainer-9.
Size comparison of FTC-2000G (far left) and mainstream trainers
However, the FTC-2000 is a trainer after all, so in the basic avionics and fire control system can be simple to match, can be replaced by simulator with simulator. For example, fire control radar, Coach-9 uses a simple radar system, and a large number of fire control functions cannot be used, which can meet the needs of flight student training. However, because the aircraft is still changed all the way from the J-7, there is still room for the airframe, and there is a lot of avionics installation space, but it is not installed.
FIAR Grifo S7 pulse Doppler fire control radar
On the FTC-2000G, the main engine factory just used these unused spaces: for example, on the fire control radar, the FTC-2000G replaced the original single-pulse small radar with the FIAR Grifo S7 pulse Doppler fire control radar. The fire control function has been fully restored, and its interception range can fully meet the needs of medium-range combat, and equipment such as continuous wave irradiators have been added to meet the needs of mid-course guidance of medium-range air-to-air missiles. Therefore, in addition to the PL-9C close-range combat bullet, the FTC-2000G can also hit the SD-10A medium-range bullet.
At the same time, this small planar slit array radar also has certain ground mapping functions, and with integrated pod interface and fire control software, the FTC-2000G fighter can also carry equipment such as laser-guided pods. Therefore, laser-guided bombs, GPS/INS precision-guided bombs and even CM-102 small air-surface missiles can be carried, in addition to ordinary aerial bombs and aerial rockets. In this sense, the FTC-2000G can be both against the air and the ground, and can intercept the air at medium distances, and can strike accurately at the ground, what is it not a multi-role fighter?
At the same time, even better, the FTC-2000G can not only be air-to-air, but also ground-to-ground, it still retains the original coaching function. You see, this cabin can still take two pilots, and it can also be used as a transition between the K-8 trainer and the FC-1 fighter. So, people are dual-mission fighters, and our FTC-2000G fighters are triple-mission fighters, so there is nothing wrong with that.
Of course, although it is a "triple mission fighter", the performance of the FTC-2000G fighter is still incomparable with that of the third-generation fighter:
For example, in the aircraft engine, the FTC-2000G fighter still uses the relatively old FWP-13F turbojet engine, with average thrust-to-weight ratio performance and a relatively small combat radius, which is not much different from the J-7E. For example, in the flight control system, FTC-2000G, like the Coach-9, does not have a fly-by-wire flight control system, but traditional hydraulic machinery and longitudinal stabilization, which is similar to the F-15C. Of course, this system has also lagged behind, and there are no new fighters still using it.
For example, in avionics fire control, although it can intercept fire at medium range, can attack ground and so on, but the performance of situational awareness, electronic countermeasures and other performance is still far inferior to the third-generation fighter, but highlights a good and enough to use. In short, in terms of overall performance, the FTC-2000G fighter is estimated to have a close combat level similar to the J-7G, and the medium-range interception is worse than the J-8F, and the overall performance is between the J-8F and FC-1 fighters, which is not too advanced equipment.
FTC-2000G for the Myanmar Air Force
Even so, the performance of the FTC-2000G fighter is basically enough for its current users, namely the Cambodian Air Force and the Myanmar Air Force. For example, the Cambodian Air Force, the Cambodian Air Force had almost no usable fighter before getting the FTC-2000G, and now it has the FTC-2000G, which can be regarded as being able to rebuild its own air force, and also has the ability to intercept and attack the air.
This is not to mention, because the FTC-2000G and the original MiG-21Bis of the Cambodian Air Force have a certain technical inheritance relationship, the maintenance facilities and support system originally established for the operation of the MiG-21 series can be "wasted". This is one of the most cost-effective options for a small country like Cambodia, which is cash-strapped and strapped for a small country.
In the case of the Myanmar Air Force, the current equipment of the Myanmar Air Force is very mixed, the second generation fighters have the J-7 and Q-5M series, the third generation fighters have some MiG-29 and FC-1, etc., in addition to some K-8 trainers. However, with the passage of time, the original J-7 and Q-5M have become more and more useless and urgently need to be replaced, and the Myanmar Air Force, after equipping the third-generation fighter, needs a combat trainer that can connect the K-8 and the third-generation aircraft, which creates conditions for the procurement and use of the FTC-2000G.
At the same time, the Myanmar Air Force currently has no decent regular combat mission, that is, to fight public order operations with the armed forces of the Burma Democratic Union. The air combat performance requirements for fighters are average, the requirements for ground attack performance are slightly higher, and there are almost no requirements for the combat radius and maneuverability of fighters. Therefore, the combination of these factors, FTC-2000G fighter, seems to really meet the needs of the Myanmar Air Force, can fully meet the needs of the Myanmar Air Force and the Myanmar Democratic League army.
The Sudanese Air Force is equipped with FTC-2000G
To sum up, as we have repeatedly said, there is no absolutely advanced or backward equipment, only suitable equipment and tactical needs, suitable for their own equipment and tactical needs, suitable for the use of unsuitable equipment, for air forces such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Sudan, FTC-2000G fighters are completely suitable and easy to use equipment.
FTC-2000G for the Chinese Air Force
However, the story of FTC-2000G, including FTC-2000 "Mountain Eagle", is likely to end here. Judging from the equipment situation of the Chinese Air Force, the equipment of the Trainer-9 combat trainer aircraft is a surprise of "technological surprise" when the design and positioning of the Coach-10 are not clear, the design is not mature, and the Navy and Air Force have not figured out how to use it, and successfully seized the gap that the Air Force urgently needs to expand the scale of combat training of third-generation fighters.
Coach-10
Even some of its performance specialization, such as takeoff and landing performance specialization, are specialized for the combat training of J-11 fighters, which can fully meet the needs of training Su-27 series fighter pilots, and many "improvable" designs of Coach-9 actually reflect its clarity and shrewdness in design positioning, and also determine that the aircraft has set a head start in the competition with Trainer-10 in the first 15 years of this century.
However, with the large number of equipment of the third-generation and half-generation fighters and the fourth-generation fighters, it is clear that the aerodynamic design of the trainer-9 fighter is relatively backward, the avionics system is not perfect, and there is no fly-by-wire flight control system. Flight cadets who graduated from the instructor-9 have developed flying habits that are difficult to directly transfer to third-and-a-half-generation fighters and fourth-generation aircraft, but also need the same type of third-generation aircraft for advanced combat training, and it is clear that this training system is not cost-effective. As a result, the Chinese Air Force is currently reforming its cadet training system, and the Trainer-9 advanced trainer aircraft has also declined in it.
Therefore, in this case, after the in-depth improvement of the trainer-9, Guihang changed a light fighter in the name of FTC-2000G to the international market, which can also be said to be the last deep dive of the airframe platform of the trainer-9. However, this "magic modification" of the second-generation fighter, or even the low-end magic second-generation aircraft, has a relatively limited share in the international market. Although it has won orders from three countries so far, the total market space should still not be much. In the procurement of a new generation of fighters, the vast majority of countries can still buy third-generation aircraft as much as possible, and not many countries will continue to hesitate in the trap of second-generation fighters.
Add a little more money, you can be on the FC-1 "Thunder Dragon", and the performance improvement brought by it is incomparable to the FTC-2000G...
Therefore, although the performance and user positioning of the FTC-2000G fighter are still accurate, it is probably like this, and even in the future, Guihang will switch to other models. The FTC-2000G may become the last modification of the FTC-2000, or even the last magic modification of the MiG-21, and its legend is coming to an end.