China's GAIC reveals first export order for FTC-2000G aircraft

China’s Guizhou Aviation Industries Corporation (GAIC) has received its first export order for the locally developed FTC-2000G advanced jet trainer (AJT)/light-attack aircraft.

The stated-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on 19 April that the order was placed in early 2020 by an undisclosed Southeast Asian country, with delivery of the first batch of aircraft expected to be take place in 2021. No details were provided about the contract value or the number of platforms on order.

It took less than two years … from the first flight to the signing of the first export order with a certain Southeast Asian country,” said GAIC Chairman Wang Wenfei on 16 April, with other media outlets also quoting him as saying that “this is an unprecedented speed in the history of AVIC's made-for-export warplane development”.

The announcement came after the first series-produced FTC-2000G, which appears to be based on the GAIC JL-9G two-seat supersonic turbojet-powered trainer operated by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), conducted its maiden flight on 28 September 2018.

The flight took place only a few weeks after Xinhua had reported that GAIC was series-producing the twin-seat platform in the southern Chinese city of Anshun “to meet the demands from the international market”.

The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which markets the locally developed platform, has stated that the FTC-2000G has a top speed of Mach 1.4 (or 1,728 km/h), a maximum take-off weight of 11 tonnes, a maximum range of 1,650 km (internal fuel), and an operational flight ceiling of 15 km.