By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-05 15:35
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An exhibitor at the aviation show in Zhuhai demonstrates a made-in-China Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The hi-tech piece of kit is designed to carry heavy weapons but can be operated by a single soldier. [Agencies]
A host of hi-tech, homegrown military hardware was among the biggest draws on the opening day of the China International Aviation & Aerospace Forum in Zhuhai yesterday.
Among the visitors was self-confessed military technology fan Huang Bo, who said he had spent 1,000 yuan ($150) on his trip from Anhui province, where he is a student at the University of Science and Technology, just to catch a glimpse of the latest gear.
"The J-10 fighter is the biggest highlight for me," he said.
"I went to the show in 2006 hoping to see one, but was disappointed that it didn't show. This year, when news photos proved it would be in Zhuhai, I booked my ticket immediately."
But the J-10 is not the only attraction, the 24-year-old said.
"There are many new weapons on show for the first time," he said.
Among them are various types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Wang Weidong, director of the system engineering department at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), said one of the stars of the China-made UAV lineup is the medium-range CH-3.
"The vehicle has a payload of nearly 100 kg and provides a platform that can be used in the future to carry air-to-ground weapons," he said.
UAVs used for air-to-ground attacks are widely recognized around the world as the future of combat, he said.
Also drawing the crowds yesterday was the WS-2 long-range, guided multiple launch rocket system.
The massive, camouflaged vehicle, which some have nicknamed China's Hummer, is making its debut at the show.
Wang Wei, who works in the marketing department at the CASC, said the rocket system's maximum firing range is 200 km, a distance that few other launchers can match.
It excels in fast response and high firing density, and is among the most advanced rocket systems ever developed in China, he said.
In the show's defense missile area, the portable FN-16 air-defense system was also making its debut and drawing the crowds, Wang Weidong said.
This piece of equipment represents the leading edge in portable air-defense systems, a field in which China is truly a world leader, he said.
Reports: China's AVIC plans foreign acquisition
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — State-owned China Aviation Industry Corp. is preparing to acquire a foreign general aircraft manufacturer, with the deal expected by the end of the year, reports said Tuesday.
AVIC also is planning to list shares in the "near future," the state-run newspaper China Daily and other reports cited the company's president, Tan Weidong, as saying.
Tan, who spoke on the sidelines of China's International Aviation & Aeospace Forum in the southern city of Zhuhai, did not identify the target of AVIC's acquisition plan, but the company has been mulling an overseas acquisition for years.
Last year, the company reportedly approached Dutch industrial engineering company Stork NV, whose aerospace unit was acquired in 1996 from longtime aircraft manufacturer Fokker, about buying its aerospace division.
In the end, U.K.-based private equity group Candover Investments PLC acquired Stork.
Staff at AVIC's headquarters in Beijing said officials authorized to speak to media about the report were not immediately available for comment.
AVIC plans to develop 10-, 20- and 30-seat business jets and hydroplanes, as well as large passenger jets, Tan told reporters in Zhuhai. Zhuhai, site of the country's annual international air show, would become AVIC's base for research and development, final assembly and test flights, according to the report.
China recently merged its two major aircraft makers, AVIC I and AVIC II, to help consolidate aviation manufacturing. China Aviation Industry Corp. is parent to six new companies set up to manage the various businesses run by AVIC I and AVIC II, which include airplane engines, helicopters, transporters, general aviation, airborne systems and aviation trade, the report said.
AVIC I and AVIC II, both originally units of China's military aviation manufacturer, had been split into separate companies in 1999.
Meanwhile, reports cited Miao Wei, vice minister of industry and information technology, as saying that China's first domestically produced large jet will hit the market between 2015 and 2020.
"We will finish the concept design and research on key technologies before 2010 and have the first plane roll off the production line before 2014," state-run media quoted Miao as saying.
Miao said the aircraft would have at least 150 seats.
In another step toward commercialization of Chinese-made passenger jets, Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, Ltd. clinched an order for its 25 of its ARJ21-700 regional jets from General Electric Commercial Aviation Services , GE said.
The deal, due to be signed Tuesday in Zhuhai, was worth about 5 billion yuan ($732 million), the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
General Electric earlier ordered five ARJ-21s and it is supplying the engines for the ARJ-21 project.
The 70 to 110-seat jet, also called the "Xiangfeng," or "Flying Phoenix," is meant to boost AVIC's efforts to compete with international manufacturers such as Bombadier Inc., of Canada, and Brazil's Embraer SA.
Airlines have ordered a total of 206 ARJ21-700s so far, Xinhua said.
The aircraft's maiden flight has been postponed for months, however, due to suppliers' delays in meeting the manufacturer's quality requirements. The most recent reports said the jet might finally make its first flight later this month.
China will need about 900 mid-sized regional jets over the next two decades, Commercial Aircraft Corp. estimates, as economic growth drives an expansion of air travel and airlines look for planes best tailored to feeder routes.
China Plans Civil Engine Market Entry
Nov 6, 2008
| By Bradley Perrett/Aviation Daily |
 China will build a small turbofan to propel itself into the business of integrating and manufacturing complete civil aero-engines. The 7,100- to 8,800-pound powerplant from one subsidiary of Chinese aircraft conglomerate Avic is aimed at a small business jet proposed by another, responsible for general aviation. The basic design of the entirely Chinese engine has been completed, compressors and turbines have been rig tested, and a prototype engine has been built but not yet run. Avic’s newly formed Aviation Engine Industry Corp. Ltd. is exhibiting the prototype at the Airshow China exhibition at Zhuhai this week. The civil engine will play the same role in the launch of Chinese commercial engine integration that the ARJ21 regional jet is playing in the establishment of a national commercial airframe industry, says Guo Xin, president of the company’s Gas Turbine Establishment. “China will also certainly build an engine for an aircraft with 150-180 seats,” he adds. That’s a likely size for the airliner that airframe-builder Comac proposes to have flying by 2020. The design features a fan with swept blades, like those of advanced western engines. But Guo says Chinese engineers neither consulted nor copied western manufacturers in designing the engine, which another source says is provisionally called the Ming Jiang. The project will need government support, says Guo, arguing that Western engine and airframe makers also enjoy public funding. If the company gets that support, civil engines will probably join airframes at the center of an international trade dispute that aviation experts say is slowly heating up and will probably boil over in the next decade. If enough money is available, the company believes it can complete development of the engine within five years, not including time for certification. Executives describe Ming Jiang development so far as smooth. The rig tests, conducted a few years ago, resulted in design changes, but that was only to be expected, they say. Photo of a Pratt & Whitney civil engine from P&W |
Reports: China's AVIC plans foreign acquisition
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — State-owned China Aviation Industry Corp. is preparing to acquire a foreign general aircraft manufacturer, with the deal expected by the end of the year, reports said Tuesday.
AVIC also is planning to list shares in the "near future," the state-run newspaper China Daily and other reports cited the company's president, Tan Weidong, as saying.
Tan, who spoke on the sidelines of China's International Aviation & Aeospace Forum in the southern city of Zhuhai, did not identify the target of AVIC's acquisition plan, but the company has been mulling an overseas acquisition for years.
Last year, the company reportedly approached Dutch industrial engineering company Stork NV, whose aerospace unit was acquired in 1996 from longtime aircraft manufacturer Fokker, about buying its aerospace division.
In the end, U.K.-based private equity group Candover Investments PLC acquired Stork.
Staff at AVIC's headquarters in Beijing said officials authorized to speak to media about the report were not immediately available for comment.
AVIC plans to develop 10-, 20- and 30-seat business jets and hydroplanes, as well as large passenger jets, Tan told reporters in Zhuhai. Zhuhai, site of the country's annual international air show, would become AVIC's base for research and development, final assembly and test flights, according to the report.
China recently merged its two major aircraft makers, AVIC I and AVIC II, to help consolidate aviation manufacturing. China Aviation Industry Corp. is parent to six new companies set up to manage the various businesses run by AVIC I and AVIC II, which include airplane engines, helicopters, transporters, general aviation, airborne systems and aviation trade, the report said.
AVIC I and AVIC II, both originally units of China's military aviation manufacturer, had been split into separate companies in 1999.
Meanwhile, reports cited Miao Wei, vice minister of industry and information technology, as saying that China's first domestically produced large jet will hit the market between 2015 and 2020.
"We will finish the concept design and research on key technologies before 2010 and have the first plane roll off the production line before 2014," state-run media quoted Miao as saying.
Miao said the aircraft would have at least 150 seats.
In another step toward commercialization of Chinese-made passenger jets, Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, Ltd. clinched an order for its 25 of its ARJ21-700 regional jets from General Electric Commercial Aviation Services , GE said.
The deal, due to be signed Tuesday in Zhuhai, was worth about 5 billion yuan ($732 million), the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
General Electric earlier ordered five ARJ-21s and it is supplying the engines for the ARJ-21 project.
The 70 to 110-seat jet, also called the "Xiangfeng," or "Flying Phoenix," is meant to boost AVIC's efforts to compete with international manufacturers such as Bombadier Inc., of Canada, and Brazil's Embraer SA.
Airlines have ordered a total of 206 ARJ21-700s so far, Xinhua said.
The aircraft's maiden flight has been postponed for months, however, due to suppliers' delays in meeting the manufacturer's quality requirements. The most recent reports said the jet might finally make its first flight later this month.
China will need about 900 mid-sized regional jets over the next two decades, Commercial Aircraft Corp. estimates, as economic growth drives an expansion of air travel and airlines look for planes best tailored to feeder routes.
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