China has been in a mixed mood since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a state visit to the United States in late June. President Joe Biden had a summit with Prime Minister Modi and agreed to jointly produce General Electric ( GE )’s F414 fighter engine in India and transfer core technology, but this agreement was painful for China.
China has been working on fighter engine development for over 20 years. Since we don’t have our own technology, we’ve been developing it by copying the Russian engine, but we’re struggling because we can’t get satisfactory performance. However, India was able to transfer the technology that China has been working on for more than 20 years in one shot.
A bigger concern is that the United States may provide India with F-35 stealth fighters that have been sold only to allies. If India, which is at odds with each other over border disputes, secures the F-35, China will be deeply troubled. It seems that the United States has put a ‘dog hand’ in order to take India away from Russia and use it as a sure-fire card to contain China.
Equipped with Super Hornet, also equipped with
KF-21
India has also been working on developing its own engine called Kaveri since the 1980s. It was judged that depending on the political situation, engine procurement could be difficult if it depended on overseas engine supply. However, it is said that the development of core parts such as turbine blades and compressors has failed every time due to lack of technology and budget.
In the end, the self-developed light fighter Tejas introduced in 2015 was equipped with GE ‘s F404 engine. GE ‘s F414 engine will also be installed on the Tejas MK2 , a medium-sized fighter jet that is being developed with the goal of first flight in 2027 . The engine that we agreed to jointly produce this time is this F414 engine. The F414 is a turbofan engine that is used in the US Navy’s main aircraft Super Hornet ( F / A-18E / F ), EA-18G Growler, Swedish Gripen fighter, etc. It is a model whose performance has already been verified. Two of these engines are also used in the KF-21 Boramae , which is being developed by Korea .
India has signed a deal to purchase 99 F414 engines in 2021 for $716 million. The US and India have decided to jointly produce this quantity in India this time. GE and India’s state-run defense company Hindustan Aviation Industries ( HAL ) will build a joint production plant in India to jointly produce. In addition, it was agreed to transfer 11 core technologies required for engine manufacturing, such as single-crystal turbine blade processing and plating, and combustion chamber radar drilling. The United States gave an unprecedented gift to Indian Prime Minister Modi.
GE and HAL plan to produce 500 units of the F414 engine 스포츠토토. It means that this engine will be widely used in fighter jets developed by India in the future.
“Get the technology that China has worked hard for 20 years in one shot”
China has a sweet body. China developed its own engine, called the WS-10, by copying the AL-31F engine of the Russian Sukhoi -27 fighter introduced in the 1990s. It is said that this engine is used in main fighters such as J-10 and J-11, but there are many problems such as lower propulsion than AL-31F . With the development of large and heavy aircraft such as the J-16 fighter bomber and the J-20 stealth fighter, an engine with better propulsion called the WS-15 is also being developed. However, it is said that it is experiencing difficulties such as a sudden drop in engine output at high temperatures.
It is said that developing an aircraft engine is more difficult than developing an aircraft itself. There are only four or five countries in the world that can make aircraft engines on their own, including the United States and Russia. In the process of producing the F414 engine in a joint venture with GE
, India has a good opportunity to secure the technology needed to develop its own engine. China, which has been working on its own engine development for more than 20 years, will be outraged.
We also provide
F-35s that are only sold to allies.
In fact , there are many analyzes that joint production of the F414 engine is just a trailer. It is said that if a relationship of trust is established between the two countries in this process, the United States may sell F-35 stealth fighters to India.
The F-35 participated for the first time at the Aero India Airshow in Bangalore in February of this year. In addition to the F-35, the US also sent B-1B bombers, F-16s , F / A-18s and Super Hornets. The Hong Kong Asia Times analyzed that India, which has been heavily dependent on Russia militarily, is an
China fights back by unveiling
WS-15 test flight
In early July, a video of a J-20 stealth fighter taking a test flight with a WS-15 engine under development was uploaded on China’s Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter) . The Chinese military seems to be fighting back the agreement between the United States and India to jointly produce fighter engines.
The WS-15 is an engine being developed by benchmarking the F119 engine used in the US F-22 stealth fighter , but it has suffered from problems such as overheating of the turbine. The release of the test flight video is probably intended to show off that it has solved these problems on its own.
unconventional move to detach Russia from Russia.But it still seems a long way to go. Chinese CCTV military commentator Song Zhongping said in an interview with the Hong Kong South China Morning Post ( SCMP ), “ The WS-15 still has a big gap with the F119 , which has more than 500,000 flight hours. ” And it needs to go through improvement work,” he said.
