China's breakthrough for a jet engine
The Chinese military has made significant improvements in its ability to produce more jet engine engines on their own. Combining robust aircraft development and production plans with a desire for China to enter the 5 th generation space, where Russia may not be able to supply later models engines like the 117S has made China a strong motivator to become more self-sufficient in the design and manufacture of high performance jet engines.
According to Wang Ya'nan who is a military expert as well as chief editor at Aerospace Knowledge magazine, technological advances have reduced the gap between China's leaders and China's in the development of jet engines. These include a surge of research in China, the establishment of an Aero Engine Corporation of China (Aero Engine Corporation of China), and breakthroughs with key materials such as single crystal blades.
2002 marked a major milestone when a Chinese designed, produced and tested jet-engine made its debut at Zhuhai Airshow. This engine, the WP-14 Kunlun (or Chengdu J-7) was used in several Shenyang J-8 variants.
The WP-14 took 20 years to develop, but it was credited with being China's first indigenous jet engine, and the Chinese Air Force has deployed it on several of its fourth-generation fighter jets. It is being applied to the J-15 (Xi'an Y-20), which will eventually become China's first fifth-generation plane.
While Chinese jet engines are still behind their foreign counterparts in terms of thrust, they are becoming increasingly reliable and are being fielded in increasing numbers by the PLA Air Force and PLAN Aviation. Chinese technicians are extending the service life for Russian-made AL-31F-tornadofans. This process allows them to extract maximum performance from these engines. It will likely help them a lot to develop new engines, which can be stronger, more resistant to on-wing abuse, as well as easier to replace in the field.
Another important development in the engine sector is the emergence of an under-development engine called the WS-15, which has a high bypass ratio and can perform thrust vector control, a capability that is a key requirement for the next generation of fighters, China's CCTV reported on Friday. It's believed that the WS-15 will be used on the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon, as well as on a rumored future two-seat carrier-borne jet based on the Xi'an Y-20, the Eurasian Times reported.
The J-20 is currently equipped with a Russian-made WS-10C turbinefan. This arrangement is a stopgap arrangement to allow mass production of J-20 before the Chinese WS-15 can be tested. This engine is said to be more powerful than that of the AL-31F turbofan. However, the engine can experience performance power drops during certain maneuvers and can suffer fuel flow and disturbed air problems if the aircraft has an excessive angle of attack.
Despite these problems, the WS-10C has been used in the J-20 for over 10 years and is proving to be more than capable for this aircraft. According to media reports the WS-10C has proven so reliable and efficient that more J-20s have been used in the PLA Airforce fleet than ever before.