Engine development to help PLA

Mass production of turbine blades ‘to assure stable supply’

A private Chinese company is mass-producing single-crystal turbine blades for aircraft engines, previously a monopoly of the US, which experts said will help Chinese fighter jets sustain prolonged battles.

The single crystals are a key indicator of a jet engine’s capability, and its ultra-strong heat resistance can make it power high performance aircrafts.

Southwest China’s Sichuan Province-based private company, Chengdu Aerospace Superalloy Technology Co Ltd, is reportedly capable of massproducing single-crystal turbine blades, which, experts said could benefit the military and improve the quality of domestic parts. The firm, which relies on its parent company that produces rhenium, became China’s first company to massproduce single-crystal turbine blades, China Central Television (CCTV) reported Sunday.

Rhenium is a key metal used in producing single-crystal turbine blades, 80 percent of which are used to produce aircraft engines, either jets or rockets, and is vital to the military, the report said.

“Mastering the production technology of single-crystal turbine blades and aero engines will offer assured supply to the army and increase our fighter jets’ ability to wage prolonged battles,” Xu Guangyu, a retired rear admiral and senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times on Sunday. It brings strategic benefits to the army since most fighter jets were powered by Western engines, Xu said.

“China’s J-20, J-31 and H-20 fighter jets are now powered by homemade engines that feature domestic single-crystal turbine blades,” Xu added.

Zhang Zheng, chairman of the board of the Chengdu Aerospace Superalloy Technology, told CCTV that products made by his company have a huge market because the US had blocked core production techniques.

The company’s products had passed the international standards test in 2016, the report said. “Civil-military integration would boost not only the civil but also military aviation industry. It would be a great achievement if China’s C919 passenger jumbo jet can be powered by domestic engines,” Xu said.

It’s rare to see a private Chinese company master the technology used for aircraft engines, since most of the technologies of single-crystal turbine blades are in hands of State companies, Wang Yanan, chief editor of the Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times.

Private firms’ entry into the aviation industry would help increase its capacity and efficiency, Wang said. “Because of differences in management style, private firms are more cost-efficient, which is likely to bring a new perspective to the industry. They are more efficient and competitive in terms of quality,” Wang said.

China’s 13th Five-year Plan for the National Development of Strategic Emerging Industries, which was released in 2016, highlights the need to improve homemade aircraft engines and develop the domestic aircraft industry.