Shenyang WS-10

The Shenyang WS-10, codename Taihang, is a turbofan engine designed and built by the People's Republic of China.

The WS-10A reportedly powers the J-11B the J-16, and the Shenyang J-15. Unconfirmed reports claim the WS-10A powers some J-10Bs. Unconfirmed reports also claim an improved WS-10A powers the J-11D.

Chinese media claimed 266 engines were manufactured from 2010 to 2012 for the J-11 program. Unofficial estimates placed production at more than 300 units by May 2015.

Description
The WS-10A is advertised as 120-140 kN thrust engine. It has Full Authority Digital Engine Control.

Development
The WS-10 is derived from the CFM56 with the experience gained from Woshan WS-6 turbofan project, which was abandoned at the start of the 1980s. The WS-10 project was reportedly started by Deng Xiaoping in 1986 to produce an engine comparable to the AL-31. The work was given to the Shenyang Aeroengine Research Institute (606 Institute) of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The WS-10 may have been based on the core of the CFM-56II (itself based on the General Electric F101); China purchased two CFM-56IIs in the 1980s before the arms embargo. After being unable to purchase source code from Salyut, China spent nearly 20 years developing its own source code for the WS-10 engine.

The WS-10A, targeted for 130 kN of thrust, was already in development in 2002. An early version was flown on an J-8II in 2002. In 2004, Russian sources familiar with project reported problems meeting the thrust target; in 2005, they reported problems reducing the weight of the primary and secondary compressors, in addition to problems meeting thrust requirements. Engine testing on the J-11 had already started by 2004, and testing using one engine on the J-11 may have occurred as early as 2002.

A full-scale WS-10A engine was first seen at the 2008 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition.

In 2009, Western media reported that the WS-10A approached the performance of the Saturn AL-31, but took much longer than the AL-31 to develop thrust. Furthermore, reportedly the engine only generated 110-125 kN of thrust. In April 2009, Lin Zuoming, head of AVIC, reported that the engine's quality was unsatisfactory. In 2010, it was reported that reliability was also poor; the WS-10A lasted only 30 hours, while the AL-31 needed refurbishing after 400 hours. The quality problems encountered with the WS-10A reflected the state of the Chinese aerospace industry; AVIC initiated a general effort to improve quality control throughout its production chain in 2011.

The WS-10A reportedly matured enough after 2009 to power the J-11B Block 02 aircraft. A WS-10A-powered J-10B was seen in July 2011, but the engine did not power the initial J-10B production batch, possibly because of production or performance issues.

Unconfirmed reports claimed the first flight of the J-11D was powered by a new WS-10 variant; the variant reportedly had improved reliability, with a thrust of more than 13t, but less than that of the AL-31F-M1. The flight was revealed in early May 2015.

WS-20 (WS-188)
The Shenyang WS-20 (WS-188)  is a high-bypass engine reportedly producing 13.8 tons of thrust. It is believed to be based on the core of the WS-10A.

The Shenyang WS-20 was first seen in January 2014 while being tested on an Il-76, and is believed to be intended for the Y-20 strategic airlifter.

Variants

 * WS-10
 * WS-10A – improved variant; advertised to have 120-140 kN of thrust
 * WS-10G – thust vectoring variant for the J-20 fighter; 152-155 kN of thrust
 * WS-20 – high-bypass derivative for the Y-20 transport; 138 kN of thrust