FILE: Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, south China - November 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of J-10B taking off
2. Various of J-10B performing stunts

Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Haifeng, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering; chief designer, J-10C (starting with shot 2/ending with shot 4):
"No single-engine aircraft at any other air show in the world has completed all five such maneuvers. We were the first in the world to do so, with this single-engine aircraft."

FILE: Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, south China - November 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of J-10B performing stunts

Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Haifeng, academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering; chief designer, J-10C (starting with shot 4):
"We know that an air show demonstrates a country's level of aviation technology. Because we invested so much in developing this aircraft, we were fully aware of the key risks involved and the consequences if something went awry. With that in mind, we felt that if the jet could fly, we would just go ahead and get it off ground. And it completed the flight without incident. It made us feel that was just a normal and necessary thing to do."

FILE: Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, south China - November 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of J-10B performing stunts

The chief designer of China's J-10B demonstrator fighter jet recently recalled how the aircraft's debut seven years ago has showed the world the country's advanced thrust vectoring capability.

At the Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai in November 2018, the J-10B demonstrator fighter aircraft powered by an indigenous thrust-vectoring WS-10 Taihang engine stunned the world with its supermaneuverability. During the display, it executed five impressive maneuvers, including Pugachev's Cobra, a dramatic and demanding maneuver in which an airplane flying at a moderate speed suddenly raises the nose momentarily to slightly beyond the vertical position before dropping to a normal horizontal flight.

"No single-engine aircraft at any other air show in the world has completed all five such maneuvers. We were the first in the world to do so, with this single-engine aircraft," said Wang Haifeng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief designer of the J-10C.

Thrust vectoring technology dramatically enhances a fighter jet's maneuverability by adjusting the engine nozzle direction, but it comes with major technical risks. The development team had to overcome a range of critical challenges in aerodynamics, flight control and engine control.

Wang revealed that despite the maturity of the technology, performing a public display at the airshow still involved risks, and there had been opposition to the J-10B's participation in the airshow.

"We know that an air show demonstrates a country's level of aviation technology. Because we invested so much in developing this aircraft, we were fully aware of the key risks involved and the consequences if something went awry. With that in mind, we felt that if the jet could fly, we would just go ahead and get it off ground. And it completed the flight without incident. It made us feel that was just a normal and necessary thing to do," Wang said.

The breakthrough in thrust vectoring laid a vital foundation for the development of later aircraft models. Theoretical achievements and practical experience from the project have already been applied to multiple aircraft development programs.