Full steam ahead for China's engine designs

The design growth chart for engines produced by three of China's main propulsion system centres - Liyang Aero-Engine Corporation (LYAC) in Guizhou, Liming Aero-Engine Manufacturing Corporation (LMAC) in Shenyang and Xi'an Aero-Engine Corporation (XAC) - has been obtained by Jane's.The chart shows a clear plan for increasing the thrust and performance of China's major military engine designs, as well as confirming the existence of aircraft programmes currently in development.If the developmental timeline laid out is accurate, Chinese industry is well on its way to weaning itself from its current dependence on Russian industry as a source of engines for its most advanced fighter aircraft. Currently, China depends totally upon Russia for two of its most advanced fighter aircraft that are offered for export.

The indigenously developed Chengdu J-10 fighter is powered by the Salyut AL-31FN: a derivative of the Sukhoi Su-27's Saturn/Lyulka AL-31F. The FC-1/JF-17 fighter is fitted with one Chernyshev RD-93 engine: a variant of the Mikoyan MiG-29's Klimov/Isotov RD-33.Both aircraft are on track for use by China's major defence export customer, Pakistan. JF-17s are already being assembled at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the J-10 is also planned for acquisition, being designated FC-20 in service.The long-term Chinese plan is for the LMAC WS-10A Taihang engine to become the basis for several successively more powerful designs.The WS-10A will first be introduced into the J-11 multirole fighter - the Chinese licence-assembled version of the Su-27 - and the J-11B, which is the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation's copy of the Su-27.

The first derivative, the WS-10B, augments the thrust of the engine from 13,469 kg (132 kN) to 13,766 kg (135 kN) and it is this variant that is planned to replace the AL-31FN in later production batches of the J-10. A later version of this engine, the WS-10G, has a thrust increase to 15,800 kg (155 kN) and will become not only the standard engine for the J-10 and J-11 but also the power plant for the proposed J-13 combat aircraft.The J-13 has only been seen in some artists' conceptions and drawings, but it is intended to be the first Chinese-designed carrier-capable twin-engine fighter, designed by the 601 Research Institute at Shenyang.Several sources state that it will not be a copy of the Russian-made Su-33, the navalised version of the Su-27, but will instead be a much more stealthy aircraft. Several elements necessary for the development of a carrier-capable fighter have been acquired by Chinese industry from both Russia and Ukraine.Russian sources told Jane's that China purchased the materials associated with the developmental work on the Su-27K - and the single prototype aircraft that was left in Ukraine after the break-up of the former USSR - from the Research Institute for Aeroelastic Systems in Feodosia.Chinese designers have reportedly already developed some components, such as landing gear configurations that allow for the higher sink rates required for a carrier-capable aircraft. The J-13 is projected to fly sometime around 2013.

Two other notable future aircraft programmes mentioned in this chart are:

• The Xi'an JH-7B, with the plan that this new-generation aircraft will be powered by the LYAC WS-12B growth variant of the original WS-12 Taishan. This engine gives the aircraft a thrust increase to 10,200 kg (100 kN) over the JH-7A strike aircraft's Xi'an WS-9 at 9,400 kg (92 kN). The JH-7B is reported to be a much more stealthy version of the A model that will be used as an escort jammer aircraft for PLAAF Su-27Sk and Su-30MKK aircraft armed with the Zvezda-Strela Kh-31 anti-ship missile, as well as being a platform for the KD-88 air-launched cruise missile.

• The new, modernised version of the Shenyang J-8 fighter, designated the J-8T, which will also receive a new engine. Its 8,160 kg (80 kN) LYAC WS-12 Taishan engine will be replaced by a LMAC WP-14C Kunlun-3 with 8,360 kg (82 kN) thrust. The same engine will also be installed in the Chengdu J-7 fighter and Guizhou (GAIC)/Chengdu JL-9/FTC-2000 jet trainer.

The dates on this chart also indicate considerable developmental and test lead times in these engine programmes. The WS-10A Taihang supposedly completed its endurance tests in 2005, but the milestone chart for Chinese engine development displayed by China's AVIC consortium at Air Show China 2008 in Zhuhai does not show the engine entering service until 2011.By the same token, the WS-12B Taishan engine for the JH-7B is supposedly in testing as of this year, but AVIC's timeline does not show this engine as IOC until well after 2020.Still unknown is which engine design is the "4th Generation Aeroengine" for "the 4th Generation Fighter in Development In China" that was listed on AVIC's projected future programmes chart at Zhuhai. AVIC project this unnamed engine for initial operating capability (IOC) around 2022, which might be the WS-10G or some other higher-thrust derivative.

Two clear conclusions are that China - after many years of trying - is finally building reliable, high-performance military-grade jet engines. It is a considerable achievement with long-term strategic implications, which is perhaps why at the 2006 Zhuhai Air Show the designer of the Taihang engine, Zhang Enhe, was given a Technology Pioneer Laureate award for his "18 years of hardship and difficulties" on developing this engine.Secondly, these programmes are a further blow to the already significantly declining level of defence exports from Russia to China. Earlier this month the General Director of Rosoboronexport (ROE), Anatoliy Isaikin, told the press that China's portfolio of purchases could soon drop from 40 per cent to 10 per cent of Russia's total export business. One of the few major orders to China still left, he mentioned, was the current contract to supply 100 AL-31FN engines to Chengdu for the next batch of J-10s. If the timeline for the WS-10B is correct this could be the last large-scale order for the AL-31FNs as well.

Posted in: China,Fighter jet