(Reuters) – China’s home-made FTC-2000 Mountain Eagle (Shanying) fighter trainer has rolled off the final assembly line in southwest China’s Guizhou Province.
The Shanying is a supersonic fighter trainer, developed by the Guizhou Aviation Aircraft Co.Ltd., under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
It is capable of undertaking many combat and training missions and conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
“It is an export variant of airplanes. The biggest difference is that the export plane is positioned to be light and multi-purposed, which can undertake missions including fighting, attacking and training.”
We’ve made some adjustments and configurations on the weapon system, human-computer interface and combat equipment to make it meet the needs in fighting missions,” said Hu Jianxing, chief engineer of the Guizhou Aviation Aircraft Co.Ltd..
The Shanying trainer has aroused widespread interest for its distinguished advantages such as high reliability, cost and performance, and high expandability since it made its maiden flight in 2003.
“Chinese traditional aircraft importers are mostly third world countries. These countries used China’s second-generation aircraft for many years and it is time for replacement. Our Shanying would be the best choice as it enjoys advantages in technology and maintenance. So we can say it has a very good market prospect internationally,” said Wang Wenfei, board chairman of the Guizhou Aviation Aircraft Co.Ltd..
