China's Most Powerful Fighter Jet Engine ‘WS-15’ Improved and Optimized After Recent Tests

[beijingwalker]

China's Most Powerful Fighter Jet Engine ‘WS-15’ Improved and Optimized After Recent Tests​

• 09:34 AM, March 15, 2022
• 4806

J-20 fighter

China's most powerful fighter engine to date, the WS-15 meant for the J-20 heavy stealth jet, has exhibited super-cruise and super-maneuverability in recent tests.

With the tests, all parameters of the WS-15 have been further improved and optimized, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday. The WS-15 is expected to replace the WS-10 engine, currently used in the J-20 in the future enabling the J-20 to reach its maximum performance envelope.

Developed for fifth-generation heavy and medium fighter jets, the WS-15 has a low bypass ratio and is capable of thrust vector control.

A distinguishing characteristic of a next generation high thrust engine for combat aircraft is that it should have a thrust of between 15 to 18 tons, military expert Wang Mingliang said on CCTV.

“When the J-20 gets the new engines, it will become a more powerful platform, thanks to boosted super-cruise capability and super-maneuverability, in addition to its already excellent stealth capability and situational awareness,” the expert claimed.

China has already displayed a thrust vector control-capable engine in flight by a J-10 fighter jet at Airshow China 2018. So such technology will not be a problem for China, and the increase in the thrust-to-weight ratio and the reduction in fuel consumption has always been a goal in engine development, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times.

The technology gap between China and leading countries like the U.S. in terms of jet engine development had been significantly narrowed in recent years, said Wang Ya'nan.

Besides the WS-15, the WS-20, China's next generation turbofan engine with a high bypass ratio, is believed to be undergoing tests on the Y-20 large transport aircraft currently.

China’s Most Powerful Fighter Jet Engine ‘WS-15’ Improved and Optimized After Recent Tests

China’s most powerful fighter engine to date, the WS-15 meant for the J-20 heavy stealth jet, has exhibited super-cruise and super-maneuverability in recent tests. With the tests, all parameters of the WS-15 have been further improved and optimized, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on...

www.defenseworld.net

 

[Song Hong]

We can be assured that once PLA adopt it, the Chinese will meet all important PLA operating parametrics such as

1. Thrust
2. Thrust to weight ratio
3. Fuel consumption
4. bypass ratio
5. dimension


The only thing Chinese turbofan makers can play is to reduce the life of these engines to 2000 hours....etc. You can trade the life expectancy with performance. Anything 2000 hours is grudgingly acceptable. 3000 hours is acceptable. 4000 hours is good.

In comprison F35 Turbofan PWP135 is more than 10 000 hours,

Right now Chinese Turbofan is on par with AL31 on operating metric. I am quite confident. Not too sure about the life expectancy.

I issue a disclaimer that I speculate and I am not proxy to Chinese arm secrets.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

We can be assured that once PLA adopt it, the Chinese will meet all important PLA operating parametrics such as

1. Thrust
2. Thrust to weight ratio
3. Fuel consumption
4. bypass ratio
5. dimension


The only thing Chinese turbofan makers can play is to reduce the life of these engines to 2000 hours....etc. You can trade the life expectancy with performance. Anything 2000 hours is grudgingly acceptable. 3000 hours is acceptable. 4000 hours is good.

In comprison F35 Turbofan PWP135 is more than 10 000 hours,

Right now Chinese Turbofan is on par with AL31 on operating metric. I am quite confident. Not too sure about the life expectancy.

I issue a disclaimer that I speculate and I am not proxy to Chinese arm secrets.

The WS-15 was about 4000 hours back in 2020 according to our aero expert, and it still has a lot of room for improvement as it is still far from reaching its maturity.

 

[Madni Bappa]

China's Most Powerful Fighter Jet Engine ‘WS-15’ Improved and Optimized After Recent Tests​

• 09:34 AM, March 15, 2022
• 4806

J-20 fighter

China's most powerful fighter engine to date, the WS-15 meant for the J-20 heavy stealth jet, has exhibited super-cruise and super-maneuverability in recent tests.

With the tests, all parameters of the WS-15 have been further improved and optimized, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday. The WS-15 is expected to replace the WS-10 engine, currently used in the J-20 in the future enabling the J-20 to reach its maximum performance envelope.

Developed for fifth-generation heavy and medium fighter jets, the WS-15 has a low bypass ratio and is capable of thrust vector control.

A distinguishing characteristic of a next generation high thrust engine for combat aircraft is that it should have a thrust of between 15 to 18 tons, military expert Wang Mingliang said on CCTV.

“When the J-20 gets the new engines, it will become a more powerful platform, thanks to boosted super-cruise capability and super-maneuverability, in addition to its already excellent stealth capability and situational awareness,” the expert claimed.

China has already displayed a thrust vector control-capable engine in flight by a J-10 fighter jet at Airshow China 2018. So such technology will not be a problem for China, and the increase in the thrust-to-weight ratio and the reduction in fuel consumption has always been a goal in engine development, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times.

The technology gap between China and leading countries like the U.S. in terms of jet engine development had been significantly narrowed in recent years, said Wang Ya'nan.

Besides the WS-15, the WS-20, China's next generation turbofan engine with a high bypass ratio, is believed to be undergoing tests on the Y-20 large transport aircraft currently.

China’s Most Powerful Fighter Jet Engine ‘WS-15’ Improved and Optimized After Recent Tests

China’s most powerful fighter engine to date, the WS-15 meant for the J-20 heavy stealth jet, has exhibited super-cruise and super-maneuverability in recent tests. With the tests, all parameters of the WS-15 have been further improved and optimized, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on...

www.defenseworld.net

How many J20 does PLAAF have?

 

[Deino]

How many J20 does PLAAF have?

latest count was about 100-120

 

[S10]

I know engine was the most pressing issue for J-20, but does anyone know if they upgraded avionics and sensors in the past decade?

The plane appeared in 2011, and it's about time for an overhaul.

 

[chinasun]

According to audio analysis, the engine transmission technology of turbofan 15 is the same as that of American F119 engine. It can greatly improve the life of aero-engines.

 

[UKBengali]

Anyone have any reason why the WS-20 engine is still not been put onto Y-20 as it first flew on Y-20 in 2014?

Y-20 is a 4-engined plane and you would have thought that it would have been equipped with the WS-20 in the late 2010s and we are in 2022 and still waiting.

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

Anyone have any reason why the WS-20 engine is still not been put onto Y-20 as it first flew on Y-20 in 2014?

Y-20 is a 4-engined plane and you would have thought that it would have been equipped with the WS-20 in the late 2010s and we are in 2022 and still waiting.

The WS-20 was facing problems back in 2014 (a shaft on a test engine broke). They took their time fixing these problems and improving the performance of the engine. As for why it's taking so long, jet engines are inherently a technology with long lead times. If an engine has to go through however many thousands of hours of tests, there's no way around that - you just have to do it. If there's a problem, you take a long time fixing it and a longer time testing the engine again to make sure the problem's gone.

The D-30/WS-18 engines on the Y-20 are reliable and do fine. China can afford to take its time with the WS-20 to make sure ever bug is ironed out.

 

[UKBengali]

The WS-20 was facing problems back in 2014 (a shaft on a test engine broke). They took their time fixing these problems and improving the performance of the engine. As for why it's taking so long, jet engines are inherently a technology with long lead times. If an engine has to go through however many thousands of hours of tests, there's no way around that - you just have to do it. If there's a problem, you take a long time fixing it and a longer time testing the engine again to make sure the problem's gone.

The D-30/WS-18 engines on the Y-20 are reliable and do fine. China can afford to take its time with the WS-20 to make sure ever bug is ironed out.

I thought the WS-20 is based on the core of the WS-10 engine?

Surely in this case and with the Y-20 being a 4-engined plane they could have got the engine into service in the late 2010s, when the WS-10A was reliable enough to equip twin-engine J-11Bs all the way back in 2009.

There is a problem in delaying too long and that is you are losing out on so much real-world experience for little gain in terms of reliability.

No engine ever has every bug ironed out before being put into service and if that is what China is aiming for, then that is not a smart thing to aim for.

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

I thought the WS-20 is based on the core of the WS-10 engine?

Yeah, but that doesn't mean it won't take time to design and test. There are still all the components that aren't the core.

Surely in this case and with the Y-20 being a 4-engined plane they could have got the engine into service in the late 2010s, when the WS-10A was reliable enough to equip twin-engine J-11Bs all the way back in 2009.

The WS-10 in 2009 was trash. China already dealt with the headache of introducing an engine into service before it was ready and won't repeat that mistake.

There is a problem in delaying too long and that is you are losing out on so much real-world experience for little gain in terms of reliability.

China isn't losing out on anything. The Y-20 is in service with perfectly adequate engines. Sure, a little more range and payload would be nice to have but certainly not at the price of introducing an engine before it's ready.

No engine ever has every bug ironed out before being put into service and if that is what China is aiming for, then that is not a smart thing to aim for.

Yes, but there's a standard an engine must meet before it's introduced and the WS-20 is no exception, especially given that there isn't a pressing need for it besides "would be nice to have."

 

[UKBengali]

China isn't losing out on anything. The Y-20 is in service with perfectly adequate engines. Sure, a little more range and payload would be nice to have but certainly not at the price of introducing an engine before it's ready.

No alternative to real-world experience. Constant testing would not give you anywhere near as much useful information.

There is not even need to introduce the engine to every new build plane and requipping the ones in service, but maybe getting a dozen or so Y-20s fully engined with WS-20.

I think the fact that China still has not even partially introduced the WS-20 into the Y-20 fleet in 2022(8 years before the engine first flew on a testbed) is not a good sign.