China can reduce the cost of industrial production of equipment through mass production of the equipment it produced from the J-10 aircraft.
So far, more than 700 aircraft. The approximate production line is no less than 40 aircraft annually since 2005 until now.
I have been selling this project for a long time, the China version J-10A
The cost of the structure was no more than one million dollars
China's massive production of the WS-10 engine, which was integrated into the J10/11/15/16/20 fighters, shows that it was produced in the thousands, and even the volume of its imports from China for the AL-31 engine was in huge numbers, which reduces the cost of manufacturing the best engines for the Chinese aviation industry, as China has invested in quality. Engines for its tidal and military aircraft cost $16 billion for an air force that permanently owns 3,000 fighters
Do not forget that America and America sell weapons at many times their real cost. China maintains its market by providing relative advantages to customers.
For simple examples, the Rafala fighter program was estimated at 290 billion euros in order to meet France's needs. Up to 300 fighters throughout its service life. The aircraft is sold to the French Air Force for the equivalent of 90 million euros. It is sold to Egypt. The first batch is for 170 million dollars. The second batch is worth 150 million dollars due to the low cost of training and qualification. The maintenance equipment supplied to the aircraft, as well as the spare parts, are not only of high quality but also of low quality
Rather, it is a balance between quality and cost, as I previously explained, the cost of carrying out the mission. Clearing the airspace from drones requires a single-engine fighter with a low operating cost, and the Egyptian Air Force, like any large air force, requires large numbers of light fighters.
The Rafale itself is considered the largest of the light aircraft, as it is classified, and the smallest of the heavy aircraft is a medium fighter as a result of the weakness of its engines, because France was unable to provide sufficient funding to continue developing the engine for many years, especially for a fighter that did not have any state market until 2015. The Rafale emerged as a country-based aircraft. Unmanned, so we find that Egypt requested large numbers of two-seat aircraft, 28 aircraft, to manage and control numbers of drones and facilitate aerial bombardment operations, as well as the so-called French targeting and reconnaissance warehouses, as the price increased as a result of the low demand for them, as France has large sales of the Mirage 5 and Mirage F1 fighters. This was due to the low cost of its fighters in the sixties and seventies, and when the demand for its fighters decreased, its cost rose because the cost of research, development, and production lines were distributed among limited numbers of fighters. The MIRGE-2000/5 fighter was sold at a price of 70 million dollars, and the F-16 BLOCk 52 was sold in the nineties at a price 50 million dollars, which was the price of the F-15E fighter
Things are not always prices. For example, since 2008, Egypt has been nurturing that the F-35 project and its endless problems will not be successful, and we are now in 2024. The fighter’s readiness does not exceed 55%, that is, simply its ability to carry out sorties does not exceed one sortie per day, compared to 4 vanguards for 4+ fighters. + This point is exceeded by the Russians and Chinese in their fighters, which fly at the level of fourth-generation fighters with the same ability to carry out many daily sorties. The fighters were chosen, classified, and employed depends on multiple factors, not just the cost of the fighter, the cost of washing, or the cost of ammunition. I will explain to you simple points. The French Exocet missile is priced at $3.5 million. Pimca The price of the Chinese C-802 missile does not exceed half a million dollars, although the Chinese have developed special versions of their missile with large ranges and also increased speed in the final stage of airborne flight on ships.
The same thing goes for why Egypt requested American ammunition in the Rafale for its lower and lower cost compared to limited numbers of French HAMMER AASM bombs. Rather, Egypt even developed a bomb with a range of 80 kilometers simply to reduce the cost from KIT companies, directing the user to Al-Tariq bombs, for example, and even JDAM bombs for a simple reason, the main channel in its weapons. C. Russia and America are guided bombs with a range of 80 kilometers currently used extensively in their air weapons. In contrast, longer-range bombs are used in limited numbers in the air weapons arsenal due to the cost. The presence of a fighter such as the J-10CE or the MIG-35 in large numbers is considered an ideal solution even to overlook the development of F-16 fighters. Which we will develop in Egypt at a limited cost, as you do not see any benefit in developing an old fighter like the F-16 at a price of $35 million per fighter, with full American ammunition, and full American control. Rather, it is better to obtain a fighter at a price of $50 million that contains an AESA radar and ammunition whose cost does not exceed $10 million per fighter instead. By developing a fighter that will not operate for more than 15 additional years in service for a number of flight hours that does not exceed 4,000 flight hours, you get a fighter that operates 8,000-14,000 flight hours, which is newer and capable of operating for longer periods with its standard equipment.
