China's breakthrough with the jet engine
The chinese military has made significant progress in achieving a more self-sufficient jet engine production program. China has been motivated by a combination of strong aircraft development and production programs, as well as a desire to expand into the 5 th-generation space where Russians might be reluctant to supply engines of the 117S model, to design and produce world-class high performance jet engine 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. The WP-14 Kunlun engine, also known as the Chengdu J-7 & Shenyang J-8, was fitted to the engine.
Although the WP-14 took more than 20 years to design, it was widely recognized as China’s first jet engine. It is also used by several Chinese Air Force fourth-generation fighters. It is also being applied on the J-15 and Xi'an Y-20 which will eventually be the nation's first fifth generation aircraft.
Although Chinese jet engine thrust is still lower than foreign counterparts, the engines are becoming more reliable and are being deployed by the PLA Aviation Force and PLAN Aviaation in greater numbers. Chinese technicians are learning how they can extend the life span of Russian-made AL-31F turbofans. This process is allowing them to wring maximum performance out of these existing engines and is likely to help them a lot in developing new engines that can be more powerful, able to withstand a higher degree of on-wing abuse, and easier to replace in the field.
China's CCTV reported Friday that another important development in the engine industry is the emergence a low-production engine called the WS-15. It has a high bypass rate and can perform thrust vector controls, a capability that will be a requirement for the next generation fighters. 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 currently has a Russian-made WS-10C Turbofan. This is a temporary arrangement to mass produce the J-20 while the Chinese WS-15 is available for testing. The engine is reported to be more powerful that the AL-31F turbofan. It can also experience performance power drops during maneuvers, and can experience disturbed airflow and fuel flow problems if it is too steep.
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, more J-20s are now being used by the PLA Air Force than ever before because of the WS-10C's reliability and efficiency.