Power play

China’s renewed push to develop jet engine tech

Rolls-Royce. Pratt & Whitney. General Electric. CFM International. They’re the big guns in the business of providing the world’s airlines – and air forces – with the powerplants that keep their jets in the air. But, like airframe manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus, there will come a time they may face some tough opposition from the rising powerhouse in global aviation: China.

Already striving to break into global markets with new aircraft such as the ARJ 21 regional jet and C919 narrowbody, China’s powers that be have turned their attention to a sector that for years has been virtually non-existent in terms of industrial production… making jet engines.

Instructions are coming from the top. As August drew to a close Chinese President Xi Jinping personally called for acceleration of the research, development and manufacturing of aircraft engines and gas turbines to help China build a strong aviation industry.

Xi was speaking after a new entity, the Aero Engine Corporation of China, was formally established. Headquartered in Beijing, the AECC has been set up with investment from the State Council, the Beijing municipal government, Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).

And if anyone isn’t taking it seriously, it already has a registered capital of nearly A$10 billion and 96,000 employees, including six academics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Previously, all of China’s aircraft engines were developed and made by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, but in truth they were mostly turboprop engines or jets which were essentially cloned versions of Russian engines.

Xi said setting up the new company is a strategic move that will improve the aviation industry and boost the modernisation of the Chinese military. And Chinese Premier Li Keqiang added in a written instruction that “engineers at the company should learn from other nations’ experience and focus on key technologies for aircraft engines”.

Cao Jianguo, 53, former general manager of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, is the newAECC chairman while the company’s general manager is Li Fangyong, also 53, former deputy general manager at Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

The development and the powerful backing it is getting from China’s central government leaders is extremely significant, in both a commercial airline and a military sense. While China has made tremendous progress in the various fields of science, technology and manufacturing industries, aircraft engines remain one of the few fields in which the country lags seriously behind leading global players such as the United States.

Most of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s best aircraft, such as the J-10 fighter jet and Y-20 transport plane, rely heavily on engines imported from Russia. It’s new-generation J-20 stealth fighter, still under development, also uses Russian-made engines for its test flights. Over the past decade Chinese researchers have designed a number of domestically developed engines such as the WS-10 Taihang turbofan and they have been installed on a few J-10 and J-11 fighters.

But sources say their performance is still in doubt and it will be some time before they are proven reliable enough and powerful enough to replace imported powerplants.

On the commercial front Chinese aircraft designers have also been forced to go to western companies for engines. For example, its new C919, a single-aisle narrowbody jet designed to seat 168 passengers and being built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) in Shanghai, is powered by CFM International’s LEAP-1C engine. The C919, aimed at competing with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320, was rolled out last November but isn’t expected to make its first flight until early next year. The ARJ21-700 regional jet, also built by COMAC and seating 70-90 passengers, made its first commercial flight with launch customer Chengdu Airlines in June. It is powered by two General Electric GE CF34-10A engines.

In a “Made in China 2025” blueprint published by the central government last year, aircraft engines were listed as one of the 10 crucial manufacturing sectors that are of great importance to the nation and would be strongly supported by the government. Local media reported Yin Zeyong, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of AECC’s science and technology commission, as saying the company’s founding indicates that China is determined to mobilise all resources needed to research and develop key aircraft engine technologies.

In truth, however, the likes of Rolls-Royce, GE and Pratt & Whitney won’t be suffering any sleepless nights for some time to come. It will be years before the Chinese can roll out engines capable of really competing with Western counterparts. Nevertheless, there is no question that when Beijing decides to put its weight behind something, it does eventually get there.

Xi said setting up the new company is a strategic move.