China Develops New Fighter Airplane Prototype

China has successfully tested the latest version of the FC-4, known as the Xiaolong “Fierce Dragon“, a single-seat, single-engine fighter plane. The Xiaolong is an air-to-air and air-to-ground attack fighter aircraft with a maximum speed of Mach 1.6. It has a maximum flying range of 2,175 miles. Military aviation experts believe the FC-4, jointly developed between China and Pakistan, is more likely to be used by Pakistan’s air force than China’s. Reports of how many planes Pakistan will purchase vary, but have been as high as 200. China announced earlier this year that it has increased its defense spending over last year by 14.7%.

China has successfully tested the latest version of the FC-4, known as the Xiaolong “Fierce Dragon“, a single-seat, single-engine fighter plane. The Xiaolong is an air-to-air and air-to-ground attack fighter aircraft with a maximum speed of Mach 1.6. It has a maximum flying range of 2,175 miles. Military aviation experts believe the FC-4, jointly developed between China and Pakistan, is more likely to be used by Pakistan’s air force than China’s. Reports of how many planes Pakistan will purchase vary, but have been as high as 200. China announced earlier this year that it has increased its defense spending over last year by 14.7%.

The test flight of the FC-4 fighter aircraft ran 16 minutes over Chengdu in Sichuan, a southwestern province of China where the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group is based. The FC1, originally tested in 2003, was the earliest version of the fighter.