The first export variant of China's new FTC-2000 pilot trainer/fighter aircraft has rolled off an assembly line and will be shipped to Sudan after testing.
The FTC-2000 Shanying was developed by the Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
It is the main advanced trainer used by the PLA Air Force and the PLA Navy.
"It can be used for senior training, elementary combat training and tactical counter-measure training for fighter pilots," Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Hu Jianxing, deputy manager and chief designer with the AVIC Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation. "And it also has the ability to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground combat."
The trainer/fighter is a single-engine supersonic aircraft. Its maiden flight was on December 13, 2003.
"The domestic version and export version have the same flying platform," Hu said. "And both are installed with China's home-developed WP-13 turbojet engine, which has been tested for high performance.
"The export version will be installed with various avionics systems, navigation guidance systems or external stores tailored for overseas client's demand for multiple missions."
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