sorry for the inconveniences but this is going to be a lengthy post.. hope you guys read this. thanks
good point raised by some members regarding lack of commercial aircraft industry hurting overall Engine progress/supply chain.
but if we deep dive into China's overall gas turbine industry then situation looks very interesting.
CSSC/AECC/Shanghai Electric/Dongfeng have very long list of heavy duty Gas turbines. they also one of the largest civilian gas turbine manufacturer in the world. i specifically do mention civilian gas turbine sector here, coz this industry is interconnected with turbine engine. fortunately China has mature commercial industries in which gas turbines play crucial role.
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as of 2025, China annual military turbine engine production is around 450-500 units(include all).. this will increase further as J-35 serial production begun too.
China's first high bypass turbofan Engine WS-20 mass production line initiated in Q3, 2022.. AECC took further two more years to increase the production despite the fact, WS-20 shared same mature supply chain of WS-10.
now back to the actual question. WS-15 and commercial Engines
i have already talk a lot about WS-15 issue.
for WS-15 AECC Shenyang took different route. supply line is different and didn't share components commonality with WS-10/WS-20. maybe its coz of complexity of this machine. WS-15 is first of its kind Turbofan in mainland.
and just recently we have seen clear images of J-20A/J-20AS in PLAAF marking indicate aircraft is going to induct in air force soon. but don't forget this is the preparation for upcoming large Military parade on September 3rd. for this specific occasion PLAAF revealed J-20A in public. and even if WS-15 was ready they would never select it for the parade. they always choose safe option. this is how PLA operate.
the real information is, nobody knows the exact status of WS-15. it may appear tomorrow or next month or maybe at the end of the year or could be next year. and our source cute orca said, Engine need polishing.. he didn't say, WS-15 has major design flaws.
WS-15 design has been freeze. the current problem is with supply chain and components manufacturing..
Commercial Engines -
on June 25th, 2025.. it was announced, that 12 Big National investment funding groups strategically invested an undisclosed amount in AECC Shanghai in order to accelerate Civil high bypass ratio turbofan Engines.
all are heavyweights. it is said to be in Billions. this is the single largest known investment in any Turbofan Engine company in modern era. it was even shocking for me..
as you see, despite China has very immature civil commercial aircraft industry for now they still investing heavily in Engine programs. lack of commercial civil industry hinder the progress of Engine development but China's case is little different.
Luckily China has resource and talent. there are at least Five High bypass Turbofan Engine projects going on right now.
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China is also the largest supplier of Turbine/compressor blades to RR , Safran , GE and RR commercial Engines and Gas turbine business.
last week of june, GE gas turbine department Visit a Chinese company and signed a long term deal for the supply of Hot components to LM2500/LM6000 and other gas turbines projects. this marks the first time, GE will get hot parts from a Chinese company.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China is still in build up process of advanced Turbofan Engine supply chain and WS-15 is just the small part of it and All global Engine manufacturer is deeply connected with China's gas turbine supply chain.
good point raised by some members regarding lack of commercial aircraft industry hurting overall Engine progress/supply chain.
but if we deep dive into China's overall gas turbine industry then situation looks very interesting.
CSSC/AECC/Shanghai Electric/Dongfeng have very long list of heavy duty Gas turbines. they also one of the largest civilian gas turbine manufacturer in the world. i specifically do mention civilian gas turbine sector here, coz this industry is interconnected with turbine engine. fortunately China has mature commercial industries in which gas turbines play crucial role.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
as of 2025, China annual military turbine engine production is around 450-500 units(include all).. this will increase further as J-35 serial production begun too.
China's first high bypass turbofan Engine WS-20 mass production line initiated in Q3, 2022.. AECC took further two more years to increase the production despite the fact, WS-20 shared same mature supply chain of WS-10.
now back to the actual question. WS-15 and commercial Engines
i have already talk a lot about WS-15 issue.
for WS-15 AECC Shenyang took different route. supply line is different and didn't share components commonality with WS-10/WS-20. maybe its coz of complexity of this machine. WS-15 is first of its kind Turbofan in mainland.
and just recently we have seen clear images of J-20A/J-20AS in PLAAF marking indicate aircraft is going to induct in air force soon. but don't forget this is the preparation for upcoming large Military parade on September 3rd. for this specific occasion PLAAF revealed J-20A in public. and even if WS-15 was ready they would never select it for the parade. they always choose safe option. this is how PLA operate.
the real information is, nobody knows the exact status of WS-15. it may appear tomorrow or next month or maybe at the end of the year or could be next year. and our source cute orca said, Engine need polishing.. he didn't say, WS-15 has major design flaws.
WS-15 design has been freeze. the current problem is with supply chain and components manufacturing..
Commercial Engines -
on June 25th, 2025.. it was announced, that 12 Big National investment funding groups strategically invested an undisclosed amount in AECC Shanghai in order to accelerate Civil high bypass ratio turbofan Engines.
all are heavyweights. it is said to be in Billions. this is the single largest known investment in any Turbofan Engine company in modern era. it was even shocking for me..
as you see, despite China has very immature civil commercial aircraft industry for now they still investing heavily in Engine programs. lack of commercial civil industry hinder the progress of Engine development but China's case is little different.
Luckily China has resource and talent. there are at least Five High bypass Turbofan Engine projects going on right now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China is also the largest supplier of Turbine/compressor blades to RR , Safran , GE and RR commercial Engines and Gas turbine business.
last week of june, GE gas turbine department Visit a Chinese company and signed a long term deal for the supply of Hot components to LM2500/LM6000 and other gas turbines projects. this marks the first time, GE will get hot parts from a Chinese company.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China is still in build up process of advanced Turbofan Engine supply chain and WS-15 is just the small part of it and All global Engine manufacturer is deeply connected with China's gas turbine supply chain.
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