30 | Flight International | 6-12 August 2019 flightglobal.comMILITARY ENGINES
GREG WALDRON SINGAPORESecrecy keeps observers struggling to assess China’s
progress in developing the indigenous jet engine
technology it needs to achieve peer status in air power
Ver tical
ascent
In 2018, J-20 starred
at Airshow China; type
uses Russian AL-31sAleksandar Plavevski/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock“
A
riddle, wrapped in a mystery,
inside an enigma,” is how Win-
ston Churchill famously described
Russia in 1939. The adage applies
well – perhaps better – to Beijing’s secretive
efforts to develop military engines for its
future fleet of advanced fighters. While there
can be no dispute that engines of all types are
a major priority for Beijing, concrete news on
progress is painfully hard to come by.
Engine capability and reliability are – and
always have been – perhaps the single mostimportant technical element in the success or
failure of a combat aircraft. Advanced radars,
missiles, an ability to network with other plat-
forms, and low-observable technology count
for little if a pilot cannot, owing to a lack of a
capable engine, bring these capabilities to
bear in combat. More broadly, shorter times
between an engine’s major overhauls have a
profound impact on the flight hours available
for pilots to hone skills.
It has become something of a cliche in de-
fence circles that China struggles with en-
gines. In chat rooms about the topic – where
evidence can be thin at best – commentatorswho propagate this contention are regularly
set upon by those who argue, also without ev-
idence, that China is making tremendous
strides. In its annual report about Chinese
military developments in May 2019, the US
Department of Defense stated that China con-
tinues to struggle in two areas – radars and
engines. It gave no indication as to how it had
arrived at this view.
The need for better fighter engines, howev-
er, is abundantly clear. In recent years much
has been made of the Chengdu J-20, touted as
China’s first “fifth-generation” fighter. Four
examples appeared in the flying display at
Airshow China in November 2018, greeted
with rapture by the crowd. The type is often
compared with the Lockheed Martin F-22 or
F-35, both of which have been mass produced
and feature mature engines.AMBITIONS
What is consistently downplayed is that most
of the small number of J-20s produced are
probably powered by a Russian powerplant, an
upgraded version of the Saturn AL-31 that
powers the Sukhoi Su-35. The status of the
type’s ultimate engine, the developmental
Xian Aero Engine WS-15 Emei, is far from
clear. Estimates suggest that the WS-15’s maxi-
mum thrust will be 40,500lb (180kN), poten-
tially giving the J-20 genuine “fifth-generation”
performance, including supercruise – the abil-
ity to travel at supersonic speeds without en-
gaging afterburners. The lack of positive news- or any news whatsoever – could be interpret-
ed as an admission by Beijing that it is still
struggling with this engine. Complicating the
matter is the fact that Chinese aircraft experts
occasionally take to state media to claim the
work is going well.
As the future powerplant of Beijing’s flagship
fighter, the WS-15 is the centrepiece of a family
of engines, developed by a universe of compa-
nies grouped under the Aero Engine Corpora-
tion of China. The family includes the Shen-
yang WS-10 Taihang that powers Beijing’s fleet
of J-11Bs (early versions of the J-11, a local copy
of the Su-27, are powered by a version of the
AL-31). The WS-10 will also eventually power
the J-15 naval fighter, some examples of the J-20
and future J-10Cs. In addition, there is the
WS-13 that will, hopefully, one day power lo-
cally produced unmanned combat air vehicles
such as the AVIC Dark Sword. The WS-19
could one day power the developmental AVIC
FC-31 Gyrfalcon. The WS-13 is also seen as po-
tential interim powerplant for the FC-31, now
powered by a pair of Klimov RD-93s.
Andreas Rupprecht is the author of Modern
Chinese Warplanes, an authoritative guide to
mainland air power, and is a keen observer of
Chinese military engine developments. He
notes that stricter internet security rules in
China mean that far less news about Chinese
FIN_060819_030-031.indd 30 31/07/2019 14:10