Indianfighter
Junior Member
Composites could be a factor in the high cost of LCA as their fabrication is more difficult than metal frames. But at same time note that LCA is the smallest aircraft in the world, and quite simpler as it has no movable canards, and only 2 axis-control. J-10 is much larger, heavier and has movable canards.Maybe. But then the LCA uses an American engine, which will cost you more than a Russian engine, though Russian engines have seriously gone up in price due to their internal double digit inflation. The LCA also uses more composite than most planes including the J-10, so its construction may also be more expensive. The LCA looks like most of its skin is composite, while the J-10 seems only all the tail, part of the wings, control surfaces like canards, and ventral fins that are composite.
Leaving LCA aside, my point was that if the smallest fighter in the world could cost $ 25 m, then surely an F-16 sized plane like J-10, which has the cutting-edge of Chinese technology could cost far more than that.
Like LCA, J-10 also has a locally made radar, quadruplex FBW, local RWR, jammers, mission computers etc. So import content is nearly the same.