Aviation
Military /
China
Competitor of the F-35
Chengdu J-20, Chinese fifth-generation fighter, begins mass production with WS-10 engines
Chengdu J-20
Alert5, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rafael Ramos
12/16/2021
Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Co, maker of the J-20, China's most advanced stealth fighter that rivals the Lockheed Martin F-22 and Lockheed Martin F-35, recently revealed it has high demand for the jet, with experts saying on Sunday the J-20 entered mass production after solving difficulties with the missing part: the in-house developed WS-10 engine.
Since the beginning of the fourth quarter, Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Co Ltd, owned by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, has faced challenging research and development, production and delivery missions as many users awaited delivery of many aircraft. said in a statement released over the weekend on their social networks.
"This could be an indication that production of the J-20 is increasing," Fu Qianshao, an expert in military aviation, told the Global Times newspaper.
During this period, the company completed several major test flight missions, and aircraft delivery-related rates broke records, the statement said.
In addition, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force displayed the J-20 equipped with internally developed engines at Airshow China 2021 in October.
Mass production will be possible because of the in-house developed engine. Fu said this and that other systems such as the avionics, radar and weapons system were also developed in-house.
Local development of the engine was what was needed for China to have full mastery of mass production of advanced fighter jets. Without limiting the import of engines, production can begin.
China has been investing heavily in industrial capacity to develop fully national military aircraft. Other fighters such as the J-10, J-11 and J-16 also performed tests with the WS-10 engines.
The aircraft's production capacity is large, as Wang Haitao, the aircraft's deputy designer, says China's aviation industry can satisfy any level of demand from the local air force.
Fu said the J-20 will continue to evolve.
Chengdu J-20
Public Domain
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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